IC-NRLF 


SB    EbD 


GIFT  OF 

iS^     C.  Wul 


REV.  ERNEST  C.  WILSON 


THE  SIMPLE  TRUTH 


HARMONIALLY   INTERPRETED 

BY 
ERNEST  C.  WILSON 


"Under  and  back  °f  the  Universe  of  Time, 
Space  and  Change,  is  ever  to  be  found  the 
Substantial  Reality — the  Fundamental  Truth." 

— The  Kybalion. 


FIRST  EDITION  1920 


THE  HARMONIAL  PUBLISHERS 
4328  ALABAMA  STREET 
SAN  DIEGO.  CALIFORNIA 


COPYRIGHT  192O 

BY 
ERNEST  C.  WILSON 


CONTENTS 

Introduction  5 

Preface 7 

How  to  Study  This  Book               -  8 

I.  The  First  Cause       -              -       -       -  9 

II.   The  Universal  Principle       -  16 

HI.   The  Law  in  Action                               -  23 

IV.  The  Value   of  Service        -        -        -  30 

V.   Universal    Brotherhood        -        -  37 

VI.  Universal  Justice      -----  44 

VII.  The  Way   of   Reality        -        -        -  50 

VIII.   Form  and  Consciousness               -       -  58 

IX.  Adjustment       ------  65 

X.  Oneness        -  72 

XI.  The  Utility  of  Wisdom       -              -  78 

XII.  The  Greatest  Gift       -       -       -       -  84 

XIII.   Harmonial   Living                -        -        -  91 

Aims  of  the  Harmonial  Institute                     -  99 
Announcements       -       -      -      -       -       --100 

Index 103 


481511 


»  j       >         '   »        j  , ,  > 

Finding  within  himseff  °"Tne  Simple  Trui/i" 
concerning  the  seemingly  complex  conditions  of 
life,  man  traces  the  golden  thread  of  relative  being 
through  all  forms  of  thought  and  action;  and  by 
comparative  study  learns  the  relative  equality  of 
the  seeming  and  the  real.  This  constructive  study 
and  exemplification,  which  have  characterized 
many  people  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  come  to  us 
in  this  age  as  The  Harmonial  Philosophy  of  An- 
drew Jackson  Davis  (1826-1910).  His  ex- 
tensive writing  and  teaching  inspired  the  founding 
of  THE  HARMONIAL  INSTITUTE  FOR  RE-EDU- 
CATION; and  the  Founder-Secretary,  Ernest  C. 
Wilson,  has  responded  to  the  need  for  "The  Simple 
Truth,  Harmonially  Interpreted,"  by  writing  this 
book. 

The  Harmonial  Philosophy  is  an  eclectic  method 
of  thinking  and  acting,  by  which  the  inward  reali- 
zation of  infinite  potentiality  may  become  outward 
manifestation,  through  harmonious  correlation  of 
capability  and  opportunity.  By  discovery  of  rela- 
tionship between  exterior  effects  and  interior  causes 
man  may  adjust  himself  to  environment,  and 
profit  by  every  experience.  By  awakening  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  Oneness  existing  in  all  forms,  the 
seeming  complex  will  become  simple.  Arouse  the 
universal  in  each,  and  the  many  readily  discern  in- 
timate fraternalism.  Whatever  benefits  one  up- 
lifts all:  so  each  will  endeavor  to  benefit  others, 
that  he  may  be  uplifted. 

The  contents   of  this  volume,   alive    with    the 


the.-auth&r  to  serve,  will  find  a 
•  Welcbnie'amcmg.'tJie.  in'ahy  ,who  are  atole  to  realize 
that  truth  must  be  awakened  from  within.  Read 
its  pages  carefully,  reflect  and  meditate  upon  the 
vital  statements  made;  and  within  you  will  arise 
a  clearer  vision,  a  broader  view,  and  a  keener 
sense  of  brotherhood.  Cultivate  the  tendencies,  in 
yourself,  which  led  you  to  study  "The  Simple 
Truth",  and  they  will  direct  you  in  the  ways  of 
such  usefulness  as  will  disclose  the  abundance  of 
happiness,  success  and  growth  which  surrounds 
you.  Encourage  the  manifestation  of  this  interior 
realization  which  urges  you  to  bless  and  serve,  as 
opportunity  presents  itself;  and  you  will  be  en- 
riched by  the  imperishable  principle  which  pro- 
duces all  things.  Constantly  increase  your  corre- 
spondences with  the  positive,  real  and  permanent 
qualities  in  life,  which  neither  change  nor  decay; 
and  you  will  become  an  exemplification  of  The 
Harmonial  Philosophy.  You  will  bless  the  day 
which  brought  you  "The  Simple  Truth,  Harmoni- 
ally  Interpreted",  by  bringing  its  message  into  the 
lives  of  others. 
I  am  always, 

In  Patient  Service, 

JOHN  WILLIS  RING. 

September  7th,  1920. 


PREFACE. ,,.„,,,,  , 

HERE  IS  A  BOOK  iiisc/ibea  withirr  ihe  m- 
most  part  of  man's  being,  differing  in  detail 
with  every  individual,  though  wonderfully 
similar  in  theme;  and  all  that  is  read  or  discovered 
through  other  sources  must  ultimately  be  referred 
to  it.      Within  its  pages  the  Truth  about  Life  and 
Self  are  recorded,  not  in  words,  but  in  Spirit. 

No  writer  can  say  what  is  Truth  for  any  but 
himself;  no  teacher  can  impart  wisdom  to  his  pupil; 
for  there  exists  to  every  man  one  Author  and 
Teacher, — the  fathomless,  Deific  energy  with  which 
he  is  endowed  by  existence.  The  solution  of  all 
problems,  the  answer  to  all  questions  must  come, 
at  last,  from  this  inner  source  of  Wisdom.  But 
man  must  first  know  his  own  powers  before  they 
may  be  used  with  understanding.  Therefore  this 
book  has  been  written,  not  so  much  to  advance 
the  writer's  personal  concept  of  Truth,  though  it 
must  of  necessity  embody  this;  not  so  much  to  ad- 
vance a  particular  philosophy  or  religious  convic- 
tion, though  it  may  seem  to  do  so;  but  most  of  all 
to  awaken  within  you  who  read,  the  power  to  dis- 
cover your  own  inward  Teacher,  that  you  may 
harmoniously  evolve  your  own  conception  of  Truth, 
and  Philosophy,  and  Religion;  and  joyously  live 
by  the  light  whose  spark  the  Author  of  all  lights 
has  kindled. 

In  Service  For  Humanity, 

ERNEST  C.  WILSON. 
September   II,   1920. 


STUDY  THIS  BOOK 

^u  endeavored  to  make 
"The  Simple  Truth"  so  easily  understood 
that  even  those  who  are  entirely  unacquainted 
with  so-called  advanced  thought  will  find  its  mes- 
sage comprehensible.  However,  the  subject  mat- 
ter with  which  it  deals  is  so  inclusive  and  funda- 
mental in  its  nature,  that  many  who  receive  inspira- 
tion from  its  pages  will  wish  to  make  a  careful, 
systematic  study  of  the  book.  For  these  a  page  of 
Themes  For  Meditation  has  been  arranged  to  fol- 
low each  chapter,  adding  to  the  thought  of  the 
author,  the  testimony  of  great  philosophic  minds 
who  have  expressed  themselves  upon  the  themes 
treated  of.  To  make  "The  Simple  Truth"  of 
even  greater  value  to  students,  sets  of  questions 
concerning  each  chapter  have  been  prepared  by  the 
author  and  will  be  mailed  to  anyone  wishing  them, 
in  exchange  for  a  free  will  offering  to  cover  the 
cost  of  printing  and  mailing.  In  connection  with 
these,  the  book  should  be  carefully  studied,  a  chap- 
ter at  a  time,  and  the  question  sheets  filled  out  and 
mailed  to  The  Harmonial  Publishers,  4328  Ala- 
bama Street,  San  Diego,  California.  They  will 
receive  the  personal  attention  of  the  author,  and 
will  be  re-mailed,  with  notations,  to  the  sender. 

The  quotations  which  head  each  chapter,  are 
the  twelve  fundamental  statements  of  The  Har- 
monial Institute  For  Re-Education. 


I.  THE  FIRST  ,CAVSE,  ;•••     ,  , 

'.»'»•«  "  "        »»'••*  9^ 

**77iere  are  many  Effects,  *fci#*one  Cause*  (Goa*)V 

ACK  of  every  effect  in  life  lies  a  finer 
cause;  and  each  cause  itself  is  the  effect 
of  a  cause  which  preceded  it;  so  that  ulti- 
mately all  things  are  seen  to  be  the  effects  of  One 
Cause,  in  which  they  have  their  source,  and  by 
reason  of  which  they  exist.  Effect  and  cause  are 
as  inseparable  as  sunlight  and  the  sun.  Place  a 
barrier  between  a  ray  of  sunlight  and  its  golden 
source  in  the  heavens;  it  ceases  to  be  sunlight;  it 
has  no  existence  apart  from  that  which  gave  it 
being.  So  it  is  with  all  else.  Effects  are  distinct 
from  their  cause,  yet  exist  only  by  reason  of  the 
cause  which  preceded  them. 

The  material  world  is  a  world  of  effects,  of 
forms,  or  what  is  commonly  termed  *  'matter."  It 
is  a  world  of  infinite  variety,  in  which  many  ele- 
ments seem  to  be  manifested.  They  appear  in  the 
mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal  kingdoms,  and  in 
the  manifold  expressions  of  number,  color,  sound 
and  form  within  these  realms;  they  appear  where- 
ever  the  physical  senses  of  man  meet  a  response ;  and 
yet  when  closely  examined  all  of  these  elements 
are  seen  to  merge  into  one;  one  element  which  is 
common  to  all,  the  essence  of  all,  and  without 
which  nothing  that  exists  can  have  being;  an 
essence  which  permeates  and  animates  all  things, 
yet  is  distinct  from  that  which  it  permeates  and 
animates.  Men  have  called  this  intangible,  all- 
pervading  essence,  Spirit  or  God.  It  is  the  First 
Cause,  in  relation  to  which  all  else  are  effects. 


T We.  exists  .between.  Gad  and  the  manifest 
•wqrfcf -thej  $arne:  felatMty  that  exists  between  Cause 
and  Elf  "feet;  they  are  the  two  halves  of  the  one 
thing.  Matter  is  the  garment  of  God;  the  means 
by  which  spirit  expresses;  the  emanation  of  the 
Great  Positive  Mind.  Hence  as  the  outer  results 
from  the  inner,  so  are  the  inner  and  outer,  the 
source  and  the  emanation,  spirit  and  matter  re- 
lated. There  exists  at  all  times  a  perfect  harmony 
between  spirit  and  matter,  and  the  purpose  of  the 
latter  is  to  express  in  perfection  all  of  the  spiritual 
powers  of  the  former.  Involved  in  matter  are  all 
the  powers  and  perfection  of  Deity.  These  are 
destined  to  evolve  harmoniously  through  form  until 
all  the  grandeur  of  the  Cause  is  made  manifest 
through  the  effect;  until  there  are  expressed  in  the 
material  world  all  of  the  attributes  of  the  causa- 
tive or  spiritual  world.  The  entire  system  of  the 
universe  presents  the  action  and  reaction  of  im- 
mutable law  by  which  the  infinite  perfection  of  the 
Cause  is  evolved  through  finite  form.  All  expres- 
sions of  life,  motion,  sensation  and  intelligence  lead 
progressively  from  one  to  another  like  notes  in  a 
musical  scale.  From  the  lowest,  least  expressive 
form  of  life  to  the  highest,  all  are  obedient  to  the 
same  laws  of  being;  each  manifests  some  attribute 
of  the  Divine.  Nothing  is  wholly  evil  for  all  are 
animated  by  the  same  essence.  The  distinction  be- 
tween the  various  forms  of  life  is  due  to  the  modes 
of  expression  and  a  difference  in  quantity  of  the 
animating  essence.  From  the  protoplasmic  cell  and 
the  isolated  electron,  through  all  gradations  of 
mineral,  vegetable  and  animal  life  to  man,  each 


—10— 


form  is  in  some  degree  the  possessor  of  the  same 
central  essence,  and  each  expresses  some  idea 
which,  by  reason  of  its  Source,  is  Divine.  Physical 
scientists  trace  a  gradual  refinement  and  growing 
perfection  of  form  from  the  lowest  expressions  of 
life  upward;  and  declare  that  these  find  their  ulti- 
mate completion  in  mankind.  Each  form  and  ex- 
pression of  life  has  contributed  something  to  man's 
physical  body.  Those  perfections  of  development 
which  exist  separately  in  the  lower  forms  of  life 
find  combined  expression  in  the  form  of  man. 
Chemically  man  is  a  composite  of  all  the  elements 
of  life.  As  the  ocean  is  mirrored  in  a  drop  of  its 
water  which  contains  all  the  elements  of  the  larger 
body,  so  in  man  are  represented  all  of  the  physical 
properties  and  characteristics  which  exists  separate- 
ly elsewhere  in  nature. 

Along  with  this  harmonious  physical  evolution 
a  mental  evolution  has  taken  place;  so  that  the 
mind  of  man  is  a  composite  of  the  mental  develop- 
ment in  material  creation.  Man  exists  then  as  the 
localization,  the  epitome  of  all  the  life  below  him; 
the  apex  of  physical  and  mental  evolution:  but 
with  this  difference — that  while  all  forms  of  life 
are  expressive  of  divinity,  and  all  partake  of  the 
spiritual  nature  of  their  Source,  only  in  man  is 
there  discoverable  a  consciousness  of  that  Source. 
In  man  alone  have  the  mental  faculties  been  co- 
ordinated to  serve  as  the  vehicle  for  the  over-shad- 
owing consciousness  of  God,  and  in  him  alone  is 
there  the  inherent  consciousness  of  an  indwelling 
Presence. 

The  lower  forms  of  life,  as  we  speak  of  them, 


—ii— 


obey  the  laws  of  their  being  because  they  know 
no  other  law,  obedient  to  a  power  beyond  their 
perception,  each  adds  his  quota  of  development  to 
the  sum  which  manifests  in  man  alone.  As  well 
as  being  the  epitome  of  physical  and  mental  evo- 
lution, man  is  intimately  related  to  and  deeply 
in  the  debt  of  every  form  of  life  that  exists.  The 
allegory  of  the  Creation  in  Genesis  in  which  man 
was  given  dominion  over  "every  living  thing"  ex- 
presses the  power  entrusted  to  him:  but  with  every 
power  there  comes  the  responsibility  of  its  use;  and 
only  when  it  is  used  wisely,  justly,  harmoniously 
and  humanely  is  man  proven  worthy  of  his  title 
"the  Lord  of  creation.** 

This  evolution  through  material  things  is  at  all 
times  characterized  by  perfect  harmony  and  order 
by  reason  of  an  immutable  law  which  is  the  first 
expression  of  Deity.  What  seem  to  be  discord 
and  disharmony  are  due  to  our  incomplete  grasp 
of  the  Divine  Plan.  Until  man  completely  con- 
ceives and  grasps  the  plan  of  Deity  the  Means 
will  always  remain  incomprehensible  and  incom- 
patible with  his  ideas  of  justice  and  harmony.  An 
understanding  of  this  Plan  is  natural  to  man  and 
has  never  presented  any  insurmountable  obstacle 
to  his  spiritual  nature.  There  is  that  within  him 
which  bears  a  constant  and  never  changing  rela- 
tionship to  all  that  exists  outside  himself.  In  so 
far  as  he  relies  upon  this  inner  spiritual  nature, 
the  perception  of  Divinity  presents  no  true  im- 
possibility. Seeking  for  the  principle  inherent  in 
form  difficulties  are  transformed  into  powers.  It 
is  when  man  disregards  his  sense  of  the  unity  of 

—12— 


life  that  his  difficulties  commence.  Surveyed 
singly  as  either  Cause  or  Effect  the  problem  of 
life  presents  innumerable  insurmountable  obstacles 
which  human  reason  and  logic  cannot  overcome. 
Seen  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  senses  which  per- 
ceive only  effects,  and  judged  by  the  attribute  of 
reason  which  is  guided  by  the  evidence  of  the  senses 
alone,  the  truth  seeking  man  encounters  only  the 
outer  husks  of  appearance  and  fincTs  nothing  to  in- 
dicate to  him  the  existence  of  anything  other  than 
this  husk  of  form.  Seen  from  the  viewpoint  of 
his  spiritual  nature  which  responds  only  to  the 
realities  of  causation,  and  judged  by  his  intuitive 
faculties  which  deny  the  realm  of  effects,  man 
loses  sight  of  the  beauties  of  the  outer  world  and 
is  at  a  loss  to  interpret  its  meaning. 

To  him  who  can  so  adjust  himself  to  life  as  to 
include  both  cause  and  effect,  spirit  and  matter, 
reason  and  intuition  within  his  mind,  these  difficul- 
ties are  overcome.  Viewed  separately  there  appears 
to  be  constant  contention  between  spirit  and  mat- 
ter, both  as  these  manifest  in  man's  individual  life 
and  in  the  world  at  large.  It  is  only  by  a  realiza- 
tion of  their  perfect  unity  and  accord  that  the 
riddle  of  existence  can  be  solved.  To  declare  an 
opposition  between  spirit  and  matter  in  the  world 
at  large,  or  to  sever  their  counterparts  in  man,  is 
like  trying  to  separate  water  from  the  ocean,  or 
sunlight  from  the  sun,  or  cause  from  effect.  One 
exists  only  by  reason  of  the  other;  they  are  merely 
convenient  names  that  have  been  agreed  upon  to 
express  two  phases  of  one  idea.  Their  very  na- 
ture implies  a  perfect  harmony  of  action  and  inter- 

—13— 


action  at  all  times.  Apparent  opposition  and  dis- 
cord are  due  to  a  limited  viewpoint.  In  a  musical 
theme  two  notes  may  be  sounded  together  which, 
separated  from  the  whole  of  which  they  are  a  part, 
would  sound  like  a  discord.  Listening  to  the  com- 
plete melody,  however,  the  discord  resolves  itself 
into  perfect  harmony  by  a  co-ordination  of  the 
musical  intervals.  So  it  is  in  the  greater  melody 
of  life;  hearing  only  a  fragment  of  its  theme  we 
think  we  have  discovered  a  discord;  but  the  limit- 
ation is  ours,  the  melody  goes  on.  If  you  listen 
patiently  with  an  ear  for  the  whole  instead  of  the 
parts,  you  will  begin  to  sense  the  Divine  Harmony 
of  Creation  by  which  each  thing  in  its  place  is 
best.  Such  is  the  attitude  of  him  who  seeks  to 
live  the  Harmonial  Life;  who  views  the  life  of 
which  he  is  a  part  in  that  inclusive  light  which  cor- 
relates all  its  phases  and  expressions;  and  seeks  to 
manifest  in  the  outer  world  of  sense  the  Divine  Idea 
which  is  latent  within  him. 


-u- 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"Each  soul  hath  sprung  from  One  Great  Source, 

The  force  of  which  doth  guide 
With  perfect  law  its  onward  course, 

Nor  can  it  be  denied 
That  as  the  ocean  draws  the  dew 
From  highest  mountain  wood, 
E'en  so  each  soul,  with  hopeful  view, 
Is  drawn  toward  Central  Good," 

— John    Willis   Ring. 

"God  is  the  Cause,  Nature  is  the  Effect,  and 
Man  is  the  ultimate;  a  thought  of  God  clothed  in 
material  vesture." 

— Andrew    Jackson    Davis. 

"There  is  no  bar  or  wall  in  the  soul  where  man, 
the  effect,  ceases,  and  God,  the  cause,  begins. 
Cause  and  effect  are  two  sides  of  one  fact." 

— Ralph    Waldo    Emerson. 


-15- 


II.  THE  UNIVERSAL  PRINCIPLE 

There  are  many  Laws,  but  one  Principle  (Cause 
and  Effect)." 


relationship  between  life  and  its  Source, 
which  is  expressed  by  the  duality  of  God 
and  the  universe,  Cause  and  effect,  is  re- 
produced on  a  smaller  scale  by  all  the  forms  which 
go  to  make  up  life.  There  is  discernible  in  the 
manifold  workings  of  nature,  a  vast  system  of  cor- 
respondences, by  which  the  whole  is  represented  in 
each  of  its  parts;  and  the  same  laws  which  govern 
the  movements  of  the  worlds  in  space,  apply  to  the 
earth  itself,  to  man,  and  to  every  form  of  life  that 
has  ever  come  under  man's  observation.  The  ex- 
pression of  the  One  Cause  (God)  in  manifest  life, 
is  always  dual  in  its  nature.  Light  and  dark,  heat 
and  cold,  fire  and  water,  man  and  woman,  God 
and  nature,  are  all  expressions  of  this  one  principle 
of  duality  or  cause  and  effect.  The  analogies  and 
correspondences  they  lead  to  are  innumerable,  and 
have  given  rise  to  so  many  laws  of  being,  that  the 
student  who  is  not  constantly  mindful  of  their  one 
underlying  principle,  is  very  likely  to  become  con- 
fused. Realizing  the  first  Fundamental  statement 
that  "There  are  many  Effects,  but  one  Cause 
(God),"  the  student  will  then  be  ready  to  add  the 
second  statement,  that  "There  are  many  Laws, 
but  one  Principle  (Cause  and  Effect)":  and  how- 
ever diversified  the  manifestations  of  this  principle 
may  be,  he  will  discover  the  unity  in  their  diversity, 
and  be  able  to  comprehend  their  significance. 
Furthermore,  from  the  viewpoint  of  principle,  these 

—16— 


dualities  will  be  transformed.  Humanity  has  long 
attempted  to  draw  a  line  which  would  separate 
them,  to  divide  one  from  the  other.  The  student  of 
the  Harmonial  Life  will  hesitate  to  draw  a  line 
"where  God  does  not,"  and  will  be  more  likely  to 
surround  them  with  the  form  which  nature  uses 
so  lavishly, — the  circle, — not  to  separate  but  to 
combine  all  apparent  opposites.  Seen  separately 
they  are  antagonistic ;  an  apparent  contention  divides 
them.  Seen  harmonially,  as  the  dual  manifestation 
of  the  One  Cause,  they  are  transformed  into  unity 
by  the  introduction  of  the  third  element  which  com- 
bines them  into  one.  It  will  be  observed  that  in 
the  operations  of  natural  law  a  third  element 
always  creeps  in  between  each  of  the  dualities;  an 
element  which  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  yet 
partakes  of  the  elements  of  both;  a  unifying,  com- 
bining element,  which  forms  the  trinity,  and  by 
adding  a  third  to  the  two  makes  one  of  the  three. 
This  operation,  having  its  basis  in  nature,  is  the 
pattern  from  which  all  religious  trinities  are  evolved ; 
and  points  the  lesson  they  all  teach.  Between  light 
and  dark  comes  twilight;  between  heat  and  cold, 
moderation;  between  man's  idea  of  heaven  and 
hell,  purgatory;  between  fire  and  water,  steam; 
between  positive  and  negative  a  neutral  condition; 
between  man  and  woman  that  which  partakes  of 
both,  yet  is  neither,  which  unites  rather  than  sep- 
arates them, — the  child;  between  all  extremes,  the 
means.  So  between  spirit  and  matter  there  enters 
the  third  element  which  is  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other,  but  unites  both, — the  tremendous  power  of 
mind  which  alone  can  conceive  a  relationship  in 

—17— 


place  of  apparent  separateness.  There  is  yet  the 
significant  probability  growing  nearer  actual  ac- 
complishment every  day,  that  physical  science  will 
demonstrate  the  unity  of  spirit  and  matter  by  show- 
ing that  both  have  an  origin  in  mind.  In  re- 
ligious study,  by  which  Spirit  and  God  are  used 
synonymously,  this  thought  is  paralleled  by  the 
appelation  given  Deity  by  the  Founder  of  The 
Harmonial  Philosophy,  Andrew  Jackson  Davis, 
who  designated  Deity  interchangeably  by  the  terms 
Spirit  and  The  Great  Positive  Mind.  Scientists 
now  claim  to  have  isolated  the  electron  and  de- 
clare it  to  be  the  smallest  unit  of  matter;  but  quite 
as  many  of  them  declare  it  to  be  a  unit  of  mind, 
thereby  verging  on  the  metaphysical  idea  that  the 
universe  is  mental,  and  that  matter  is  the  combina- 
tion of  mind  units  in  motion.  As  to  what  unites 
these  units,  science  is  silent,  or  resorts  to  the  vague 
hazard  that  the  uniting  force  is  ether.  According  to 
The  Harmonial  Philosophy,  this  force  is  spirit; 
and  such  it  will  probably  prove  to  be. 

Between  God  and  nature  the  third  element  to 
enter  is  man;  not  to  separate  them,  but  to  point 
their  unity  in  Principle.  "God  is  the  Cause,  Na- 
ture is  the  Effect,  and  Man  the  Ultimate."  He 
stands  as  the  means  between  the  realms  of  matter 
and  spirit;  the  epitome  of  all  below  him,  the 
prophecy  of  that  above.  His  feet  are  grounded  in 
the  earth,  from  which  he  has  evolved  a  body;  his 
head  reaches  up  to  the  heavens,  which  symbolize 
the  Source  of  his  spirit.  In  him  are  embodied  both 
elements,  material  and  spiritual.  In  the  past  he 
has  imagined  an  opposition  between  the  two.  He, 


—18— 


himself,  has  struggled  between  two  forces  which 
seemed  to  contend  within  him;  he  has  been  swayed 
first  by  one  and  then  the  other.  In  his  mind  the 
distance  between  the  two  has  widened  into  a  broad 
chasm  to  entrap  the  unwary.  But  as  man  himself 
has  given  rise  to  this  contention,  so  he  must  ulti- 
mately replace  it  with  the  harmonial  conception  of 
their  unity.  So  long  as  his  own  world  of  being  is 
divided  against  itself,  like  the  kingdom  which  could 
not  stand,  just  so  long  will  he  see  the  reflection  of 
this  inward  contention  manifested  in  the  world 
about  him.  "As  within,  so  without."  Mind  is  the 
great  power  which  will  arouse  in  man  an  under- 
standing of  the  duality  of  spirit  and  matter;  and 
when  this  has  been  done,  man  will  discover  that  he 
himself  is  the  connecting  link  between  God  and 
nature.  But  the  action  of  mind  is  dual  like  all 
else;  and  while  its  influence  upon  human  life  is 
a  tremendous  power  for  good  when  used  to  that 
end,  it  is  an  equally  potent  force  for  evil.  Mind 
is  creative  in  its  tendency;  but  it  will  create  unde- 
sirable as  well  as  desirable  conditions.  It  will  re- 
spond to  a  limited,  restrictive  thought  as  well  as  it 
will  to  an  inclusive,  harmonial  thought.  If  influ- 
enced by  the  belief  of  an  interior  contention  with- 
in himself,  man  sees  similar  contentions  between 
exterior  dualities,  then  inevitably  his  mind  will 
create  such  contentions.  From  the  inclusive  view- 
point of  The  Harmonial  Life,  these  contentions 
have  no  absolute  existence.  They  exist  only  rela- 
tively or  temporarily,  and  are  the  result  of  inhar- 
monious thinking.  They  exist  in  the  same  way 
that  the  discord  referred  to  in  chapter  one  exists. 

jn 


They  are  very  real  and  tangible,  but  their  exist- 
ence is  dependent  upon  the  limitations  of  the  indi- 
viduals to  whom  they  appear.  When  such  limita- 
tions are  overcome  by  spiritual  evolution,  these 
contentions  will  cease  to  exist  as  such,  and  will 
become  co-operative  in  the  expression  of  the  One 
Cause.  Even  human  limitations  have  no  real  or 
permanent  existence,  any  more  than  a  child  may 
be  said  to  have  a  real  or  permanent  existence.  The 
child  will  evolve  into  a  man  and  the  adult  will 
evolve  to  the  point  where  his  body  ceases  to  serve 
him,  and  he  will  become  intangible  to  physical 
senses.  The  real  child,  if  we  refer  not  to  his 
body,  but  to  the  spirit  within,  which  is  akin  to 
God,  will  never  cease  to  exist;  but  will  continue 
to  evolve  into  constantly  greater  realizations  of  the 
divine  idea  he  represents. 

All  things  point  to  the  truthfulness  of  this  philoso- 
phy, and  its  ideas  will  stand  the  test  of  applica- 
tion and  usage,  as  has  already  been  abundantly 
demonstrated,  and  will  be  more  universally  recog- 
nized as  man  evolves  to  the  point  of  receptivity. 
"The  lips  of  wisdom  are  sealed  excepting  to  the 
ears  of  understanding."  If  the  idea  of  conten- 
tion which  man  has  so  long  cherished,  were  actual- 
ly true  we  would  expect  the  members  to  remain 
permanent,  invariable,  absolute;  as  all  real  and 
perfect  things  are:  but  all  experience  contradicts 
such  a  belief.  These  dualities  constantly  change, 
according  to  the  perception-  and  development  of 
humanity.  Our  ideas  of  good  and  bad  have  under- 
gone many  and  progressive  changes.  Human  ideas 
of  right  and  wrong  are  becoming  more  and  more 

—20- 


inclusive,  and  less  and  less  distinct  as  humanity 
approaches  a  more  complete  understanding  of  the 
law  of  compensation  which  includes  them  both. 
We  are  discovering  that  light  and  dark  are  rela- 
tive and  appear  as  one  or  the  other  to  us,  because 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  optic  nerve  responds 
to  vibration.  Sound  and  silence  merge  indefinitely 
into  each  other,  dependent  upon  the  receptivity 
of  vibrations  through  the  ear.  Science  has  learned 
that  man  and  woman  each  possesses  qualities  and 
attributes  of  both.  So  one  by  one  we  leave  the  old 
conceptions  behind  us  as  we  traverse  the  cycle  of 
progress.  With  the  involution  of  spirit  into  matter, 
an  unconscious  union  with  God  was  displaced  by 
apparent  separateness  from  God  ("the  fall  of 
man"  or  involution  into  matter).  This  in  turn,  to 
complete  the  cycle  of  progress,  must  be  displaced 
by  the  evolution  of  a  conscious  union  with  God; 
when  man  shall  have  learned  to  express  consciously 
the  unity  with  the  One  Cause,  which  has  always 
existed  but  not  as  a  part  of  human  consciousness. 
Such  is  the  mission  of  life. 


—21- 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"Reasoning  from  Cause  to  Effect,  is  the  only 
safe  guide  to  Truth ;  and  then  analogy  and  associa- 
tion may  follow,  as  carrying  direct  evidence  to  the 
mind  of  that  which  is  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
senses.  Exterior  effects  are  ever  the  signs  of  inte- 
rior causes.  Principles  are  the  progenitors  of 
manifestations." 

— Andrew   Jackson   Davis. 

"There  is  never  a  broken  link  in  the  chain, 

And  never  a  careless  flaw, 
For  cause  and  effect,  and  loss  and  gain, 
Are  true  to  a  changeless  law." 

— Elizabeth    Doten. 

"Cause  and  effect,  means  and  ends,  seed  and 
fruit,  cannot  be  severed,  for  the  effect  already 
blooms  in  the  cause,  the  end  pre-exists  in  the  means, 
the  fruit  in  the  seed." 

— Ralph    Waldo    Emerson. 

"There  is  but  one  law  for  all;  namely,  that  law 
which  governs  all  law, — the  law  of  our  Creator,  the 
law  of  humanity,  justice,  equity." 

—Burke. 


-22— 


III.  THE  LAW  IN  ACTION 

"There,  are  many  States  of  Consciousness,  but 
one  Life  (Progression)." 

CONDITION  which  probably  contributes 
more  to  the  confusion  of  students  than  any 
other  one  thing  is  that  of  the  many  paradoxes 
they  encounter.  On  every  side  they  see  the  ap- 
pearance of  inharmony,  of  injustice,  of  evil.  This 
in  itself  is  sufficient  to  shake  their  faith  ofttimes;  and 
when  there  is  added  to  the  appearance  of  these 
things  the  many  and  varied  explanations  (?) 
which  contradict  each  other  and  do  not  explain 
at  all,  it  is  small  wonder  that  students  often  feel 
inclined  to  retreat  from  their  position  as  truth 
seekers,  and  try  to  be  content  with  that  which  has 
failed  to  satisfy  them.  But  they  cannot  long  re- 
main thus,  for  the  imperative  law  of  all  life  is 
progression;  and  once  we  have  taken  a  step  for- 
ward, or  started  to  do  so,  we  cannot  recede  from 
our  position.  So  to  all  who  seek  truth  there  is 
this  to  be  said:  that  while  they  may  not  find  all 
truth,  they  will  find,  if  they  persist  in  their  aspira- 
tion for  it,  such  an  aspect  as  will  meet  their  need. 
Being  infinite,  truth  can  never  be  circumscribed;  it 
requires  infinite  time  and  infinite  development  for 
its  full  apprehension.  But  so  universally  does  the 
Law  apply  that  "it  divides  severally  to  every  man 
as  he  will,"  and  each  receives  such  a  phase  of  it 
as  his  needs  require  and  as  his  consciousness  can 
grasp. 

The  observing  mind  will  soon  discover,   in  its 
search  for  understanding,  that  all  growth  is  from 


within  outward;  from  involution  toward  evolution. 
It  comes  not  by  accretion  or  impression,  but  by 
unfoldment  and  expression.  So  it  is  with  man. 
It  is  by  contact  with  the  outer  world  that  he  grows; 
yet  his  growth  is  not  from  the  outer  world,  but  to- 
ward it  or  in  it.  The  whole  process  is  an  elab- 
orate system  of  correspondences  whose  principle  is 
unseen  and  whose  operation  is  as  yet  largely  un- 
observed. Thus  the  confusion  and  disturbance 
which  seem  so  evident,  are  explainable  as  being 
the  operation  of  laws  we  do  not  wholly  understand. 

We  may,  however,  gain  such  an  understanding, 
and  such  is  our  ultimate  destiny.  As  the  apex  of 
material  creation,  man  is  a  repository  of  the  com- 
bined possibilities  of  all  other  forms  of  life  car- 
ried to  their  ultimates.  "He  is  a  thought  of  God 
clothed  in  material  vesture."  He  is  intimately  re- 
lated to  all  that  is  and  is  essentially  God-like  and 
perfect  by  reason  of  his  Divine  Source. 

How  then  can  we  reconcile  his  perfection  with 
appearances?  Like  all  truth  the  answer  to  this 
question  is  simple.  Perfection  is  an  absolute  con- 
dition; a  changeless  aspect  of  the  Infinite.  Appear- 
ances, contrariwise,  are  relative  conditions;  the 
manifestation  of  the  Infinite  in  finite  form.  The 
one  may  be  described  as  complete,  the  other  as 
partial.  The  one  refers  to  conception,  the  other 
to  expression.  Appearances  are  no  less  perfect 
than  perfection  itself,  but  seem  so  because  they  are 
seen,  not  in  their  entirety,  but  in  part.  Perfection 
does  not  exist  in  point  of  time,  but  transcends  time, 
hence  exists  in  the  present  tense  or  in  eternality.  Ap- 
pearances are  dependent  upon  time  for  their  per- 


ception,  hence  "do  not  exist";  or  to  state  it  more 
clearly,  they  exist  only  partially  and  require  the 
future  for  fulfilment;  the  statement  that  "they  are" 
requires  the  modification  "in  the  process  of  be- 
coming." 

So  the  great  eternal  paradox  of  existence  is  pre- 
sented, by  which  everything  seems  to  be  two  things, 
— perfection  and  imperfection,  good  and  evil,  com- 
plete and  partial;  yet  all  these  are  unified  and  re- 
conciled when  we  consider  them  harmonially.  The 
simple  truth  of  their  existence  is  this:  that  in  actual- 
ity or  God-consciousness  all  things  are  perfect,  but 
that  in  our  consciousness  of  them  they  are  not.  A 
crude  illustration  of  this  is  afforded  by  an  ant  hill. 
If  our  viewpoint  were  very  limited  so  that  we  could 
see  only  a  small  section  of  the  surface,  the  move- 
ments of  the  hurrying  little  creatures  would  seem 
to  us  absolutely  erratic  and  disorderly;  we  would 
be  unable  to  trace  any  semblance  of  plan  or  pur- 
pose in  their  busy  life.  But  if  our  vision  were 
gradually  enlarged  until  it  took  in  a  view  of  the 
whole  hill,  could  include  the  surrounding  country 
and  penetrate  beneath  the  surface  to  the  innumer- 
able galleries  and  passages  and  storehouses,  our 
idea  of  the  movements  of  the  colonies  would  under- 
go a  wonderful  change  as  the  orderliness  of  the 
whole  became  evident.  So  to  us  the  affairs  of 
our  lives  seen  in  the  narrowed  perspective  of  our 
own  individual  development,  seem  very  erratic  until 
gradually  we  include  in  consciousness  more  and 
more  of  their  plan  and  purpose. 

By  degrees  we  perceive  the  purpose  of  life; 
which  is  that  we  may  express  in  the  material  world 


the  perfection  which  is  ours  and  which  we  are  in 
spirit.  Matter  is  only  spirit  formed  and  the  purpose 
underlying  the  division  of  substance  into  spirit  and 
matter,  or  force  and  form,  was  that  man  might  ex- 
press consciously  the  perfection  which  he  already 
possessed  unconsciously;  that  he  might  learn, 
through  evolution  and  the  appearance  of  separate- 
ness,  the  at-one-ment  with  God  which  has  always 
existed.  The  prime  purpose  of  life  is  a  progres- 
sive realization  by  man  of  his  inherent  divinity.  In 
this  evolutionary  process — by  which  man  achieves 
a  conscious  unity  with  his  Source — many  varying 
degrees  of  development  are  undergone.  He  must 
run  the  whole  gamut  of  experience  until  he  shall 
have  completely  evolved  his  involved  possibilities. 
This  necessity  has  given  rise  to  the  many  different 
conditions  of  life  which,  according  to  our  individ- 
ual development,  we  designate  as  good  or  bad, 
high  or  low,  just  or  unjust.  So  it  has  come  about 
that  a  thing  may  seem  good  to  one  and  evil  to  an- 
other according  to  whether  or  not  he  has  included 
it  in  experience  and  learned  the  helpful  lesson  it 
-contains.  If  he  has  not  thus  established  a  cor- 
respondence to  it,  he  is  likely  to  think  it  wholly 
<evil;  if  he  has  met  and  mastered  the  lesson  it  af- 
fords, his  attitude  is  likely  to  be  more  considerate. 
And  since,  though  alike  in  purpose  and  generalities, 
the  paths  trod  by  us  all  vary  considerably  in  detail 
and  order  of  events,  no  two  of  us  are  at  exactly 
the  same  point  in  evolution.  So  we  view  appear- 
ances in  different  lights  and  with  different  degrees 
of  understanding  or  comprehension.  Comprehen- 
sion is  the  measure  of  consciousness;  consciousness 


in  turn  is  the  evolution  by  degrees  of  the  infinite 
involved  nature  and  power  of  the  real  or  God-self. 
We  comprehend  and  appreciate  only  as  much  about 
ourselves  and  about  things  as  we  have  awakened  to 
consciousness,  through  experience. 

In  essence  or  in  truth  all  things  partake  alike 
of  the  Divine  Source,  differing  not  in  quality  but  in 
degree;  and  so  essentially  all  things  are  good,  all 
things  just  and  equable.  In  point  of  Tact  or  ap- 
pearance, however,  this  is  not  so;  and  the  great 
problem  which  each  can  solve  alone  for  himself, 
and  which  each  must  solve  ultimately,  is  the  recon- 
ciliation of  appearances  with  principle — or  the  real- 
ization that  no  enmity  or  discrepancy  exists  between 
them — but  that  each  has  its  proper  and  appointed 
place  in  the  great  stupendous  Whole. 

The  nearer  we  can  attain  to  the  position  of  the 
Harmonial  Thinker,  who  "thinks  from  the  immut- 
able Principle  inherent,"  the  easier  and  readier 
will  be  the  solution.  For  while  facts  or  appear- 
ances are  the  effects  of  which  trutn  is  the  Cause, 
truth  exists  as  a  principle,  independent  of  facts; 
whereas  the  latter  are  dependent  upon  principle, 
and  vary  according  to  our  perception  and  accept- 
ance of  them.  To  think  harmonially  and  to  live 
the  harmonial  life  of  adjustment  to  both  principle 
and  appearance,  is  to  be  consciously  that  which 
in  truth  we  are  eternally;  to  awaken  upon  the  harp 
of  the  senses,  whose  strings  are  our  human  emo- 
tions, the  perfect  melody  of  our  being;  to  mirror 
within  our  own  souls  the  harmony  which  finds 
visual  expression  in  nature;  to  sum  up  in  con- 
scious unity  the  manifold  diversities  of  life.  The 

—27— 


Harmonial  life  is  one  of  conscious,  knowing  co- 
operation with  the  perfect  plan,  of  reverence  to 
God  through  service  to  His  creatures,  and  of  at- 
tuning the  human  will  to  the  Divine  Will;  it  is  the 
philosophy  of  having  our  own  way  by  making  our 
way  God's  Way. 


— ts— 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"The  one  remains,  the  many  change  and  pass; 
Heaven's  light  forever  shines ;  earth's  shadows  fly." 

— Percy  Bysshc  Shelley. 

'The  law  of  progress  is  imperious.  The  germs 
of  vegetation  first  move  into  life;  then  they  grow 
upward;  then  they  outwardly  unfold.  So  is  the 
whole  nature  of  man." 

— Andre*    Jackson    Davis. 

"Man's  life  is  a  progress,  not  a  station.  All 
our  progress  is  an  unfolding,  like  a  bud. 

— Ralph    Waldo   Emerson. 


"Progress  is  the  law  of  life, — man  is  not  man 
as  yet." 

— Robert   Browning. 

"Yet  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages  one  increasing 

purpose  runs, 

And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  Ac 
progress  of  the  suns." 

— Tennyson. 


IV.    THE  VALUE  OF  SERVICE 

"There   are    many    Planes    of   Life,    but    one 
World  (Service):9 

RE  are  many  gradations  to  life  as  it  ex- 
presses  on  the  physical  plane  through  the 
Four  Kingdoms;  and  the  study  and  classi- 
fication of  these  is  the  work  of  the  natural  scientist. 
That  there  are  many  other  planes  of  life,  beside 
the  physical  plane  in  which  many  of  us  live  most 
of  the  time,  is  equally  true;  and  each  of  these 
different  planes  is  susceptible  to  as  many  different 
divisions  as  is  the  physical  or  "natural"  world.  The 
study  and  classification  of  these  is  the  work  of  the 
occult  scientist.  The  comprehension  of  them  and 
a  familiarity  with  the  many  terms  used  to  describe 
them,  constitute  the  technique  of  occult  scince.  But 
the  vast  majority  of  us  neither  are  nor  wish  to  be 
scientists,  either  natural  or  occult.  Scientists  are 
necessary  and  valuable  members  of  society;  but  a 
society  composed  solely  of  scientists  would  be  quite 
as  dreary  as  one  whose  members  were  all  shoe- 
makers, or  blacksmiths,  or  poets.  We  do  not  all 
want  to  be  the  same  thing,  nor  was  it,  evidently, 
intended  that  we  should  be.  We  are  no  more 
alike  and  no  less  so,  than  our  bodies  are  alike. 
In  the  aggregate  we  are  very  similar;  in  particular 
we  are  very  different.  Each  individual  expresses 
a  Divine  idea  which  is  absolutely  distinct  from 
every  other.  No  two  persons  have  exactly  the 
same  thoughts,  emotions,  talents,  or  development; 
and  yet  while  we  are  all  so  different  in  expression, 
we  are  wonderfully  alike  in,  and  united  by,  one 


—30— 


thing.  The  purpose  of  all  life  is  progression;  and 
every  living  thing  on  every  plane  of  life  is  a  factor 
in  the  great  problem  of  existence. 

The  great  illusion  of  the  past  has  been  that  of 
separateness :  the  idea  that  each  must  live  for  him- 
self alone.  We  prize  our  individuality  more  than 
anything  else  in  life.  None  of  us,  however  poor 
his  lot,  would  exchange  places  with  the  richest 
man  in  the  land,  because  of  that  precious  posses- 
sion vouchsafed  us  by  our  Creator, — individuality, 
— that  something  within  us  which  is  different  from 
every  other  individual  and  yet  is  akin  to  God.  In 
our  unity  with  the  Father  we  are  all  made  one, 
and  the  more  completely  we  express  our  oneness 
with  Him,  the  more  do  we  find  ourselves  related 
to  all  else  that  lives. 

Our  individuality  is  like  that  of  an  island  in  the 
ocean.  The  whole  surface  of  the  earth  is  a  series 
of  islands  in  a  tremendous  Sea.  Each  island  is 
distinct  in  itself,  separated  by  the  water  between  it 
and  its  neighbors.  Each  has  its  inhabitants,  who 
differ  from  each  other  in  habits,  customs,  ideals; 
and  yet  everyone  knows  the  great  truth  which  none 
of  us  thinks  about, — that  down  under  the  surface 
of  the  water,  no  matter  how  deep  it  may  be,  all  of 
the  islands  are  joined  into  one  great  sphere.  So  it 
is  with  wonderful,  struggling,  aspiring  humanity. 
All  are  striving  for  their  ideals;  they  prize  their 
separateness  from  others  and  take  a  lonesome  path 
toward  God;  but  when  all  the  non-essentials,  the 
differences,  that  after  all  amount  to  very  little,  are 
pushed  aside  and  man  removes  the  veil  of  limita- 
tion from  his  eyes,  he  will  see  what  all  along  he  has 


—31— 


been  sub-consciouslly  aware  of, — that  all  are  one. 

So  while  it  is  possible  for  us  to  attain  the 
knowledge  which  will  make  us  occult  scientists, 
after  a  fashion,  the  demand  for  expression  of  that 
Divine  urge  within,  which  we  feel  so  strongly  at 
times,  impels  us  to  be  something  else;  to  be,  in 
short,  that  which  we  are  destined  in  our  fullness  of 
development,  to  be.  It  is  a  wonderful  inspiration 
to  feel,  beating,  surging,  clamoring  for  expression 
beneath  the  humble  thing  we  seem  to  be,  That 
Which  We  Are.  To  know  that  the  great  Power 
which  gave  us  being  may  be  safely  depended  upon 
to  lead  us  through  the  maze  of  existence,  so  that 
we  are  always  just  where  we  should  be, — and,  if 
our  desire  for  growth  be  great  enough,  and  our 
trust  secure  enough, — exactly  where  we  want,  for 
the  time,  to  be.  But  we  are  here  for  a  purpose 
and  are  only  content  so  long  as  we  feel  that  pur- 
pose being  fulfilled;  the  progress  of  our  develop- 
ment toward  self-mastery,  toward  the  point  when 
we  shall,  by  having  mastered  ourselves,  be  master 
of  all  things.  As  we  near  by  infinite  degrees  that 
grand  ultimate  of  the  spirit,  the  truth  is  borne  in 
upon  our  understanding  that  to  master  all  is  to 
serve  all:  that  "there  is  nothing  that  is  evil  except 
because  a  man  has  not  mastery  over  it;  and  there 
is  no  good  thing  that  is  not  evil  if  it  have  mastery 
over  a  man  ....  but  all  are  good  so  soon  as  they 
are  brought  into  subjection"  (Carpenter).  The 
Teachers  of  all  time  have  brought  us  no  more 
sublime  philosophy  than  that  of  service. 

About  two  thousand  years  ago  a  humble  Teach- 
er walked  the  shores  of  Galilee,  with  a  little  group 


of  men  who  aspired  to  teach  the  truth.  "And  they 
came  to  Capernaum:  and  when  he  was  in  the 
house  he  asked  them,  What  were  ye  reasoning  on 
the  way?  But  they  held  their  peace:  for  they  had 
disputed  one  with  another  on  the  way,  who  was 
the  greatest.  And  he  sat  down,  and  called  the 
twelve;  and  he  saith  unto  them,  If  any  man  would 
be  first,  he  shall  be  last  of  all,  and  servant  of  all. 
And  he  took  a  little  child,  and  set  him  in  the  midst 
of  them;  and  taking  him  in  his  arms,  he  said  unto 
them:  Whosoever  shall  receive  one  of  such  little 
children  in  my  name,  receiveth  me,  and  whosoever 
receiveth  me,  receiveth  not  me,  but  him  that 
sent  me." 

By  one  common  purpose,  progression,  all  life 
is  united;  and  by  service  all  planes  of  life  become 
one  world.  Thus  is  the  complex  philosophy  of  the 
occult  scientists,  with  their  laborious  technique  of 
planes  and  bodies  and  states  of  consciousness,  ef- 
fects and  laws,  made  simple  and  comprehensible, 
so  that  "he  who  runs  may  read." 

Likewise  the  plane  of  the  senses  is  united  with 
other  planes  of  life  which  appear  less  tangible  to 
us.  As  the  veil  of  sense  between  them  grows 
thinner  we  are  fast  learning  that  individuals  cannot 
be  accurately  described  as  living  and  dead  accord- 
ing to  the  plane  of  life  in  which  they  function.  In 
this  New  Age  of  Spiritual  Freedom,  the  so-called 
dead  must  be  reckoned  with.  Humanity  can  no 
longer  speak  of  the  world  of  the  living  and  the 
world  of  the  dead,  for  the  two  worlds  have  merged 
into  one,  and  the  "dead"  have  ceased  to  be.  There 
is  only  one  world, — that  of  the  living;  and  the 

—33— 


true  indication  of  being  really  alive  in  this  wonder- 
ful New  Age,  is  that  of  serving  others.  It  is  in 
the  joy  of  service  that  man  most  truly  lives  and 
most  truly  expresses  his  Divine  nature.  It  is  those 
who  refuse  to  serve,  who  limit  the  channels  of  their 
lives  to  self-interest,  that  are  "dead."  Men  draw 
within  themselves  until  their  lives,  like  their  bodies, 
become  shrivelled  and  twisted  and  cramped  in  the 
process.  If  man  would  find  happiness  it  must  be 
by  living  largely,  generously,  not  for  himself  alone, 
but  for  others.  He  must  serve,  not  merely  for 
possible  reward  to  himself,  but  for  the  pure  joy  of 
having  a  place  of  usefulness  in  the  world  and  fill- 
ing it  well.  In  all  the  broad  fields  of  study  opened 
up  by  man's  growing  consciousness  of  continued 
life,  no  new  aspect  of  truth  stands  out  with  greater 
emphasis, — and  perhaps  none  is  less  heeded, — 
than  this:  that  he  most  truly  fulfills  his  destiny 
and  most  truly  lives  who  serves;  and  this  is  a 
truth  that  applies  not  alone  to  the  physical,  the 
mental,  and  astral  "worlds,"  but  to  all  that  live 
everywhere. 

Learn,  if  you  can  make  the  knowledge  serve  you 
well,  the  evidence  for  reincarnation  and  for  con- 
tinued existence;  study  the  technique  of  conscious- 
ness, planes  and  auras;  add  to  your  vocabulary  the 
formidable  list  of  mystical  names  which  have  come 
to  us  out  of  the  East;  but  do  not  make  the  sad 
mistake  of  believing  they  will  lead  you  one  step 
upward  on  the  path  of  attainment,  if  nearby  hum- 
ble opportunities  to  serve  remain  unheeded.  If 
the  laws  which  sound  so  interesting  when  couched 
in  unfamiliar  terms  are  true, — as  very  many  of 


—34— 


them  are, — then  you  may  rest  assured  that  you 
need  not  seek  your  opportunities  for  growth  afar. 
They  lie  always  close  at  hand,  drawn  to  you  by 
your  own  soul's  need.  In  love  they  have  been  at- 
tracted to  you  from  out  the  great  Central  Heart 
of  the  universe;  in  love  accept  them;  learn  their 
hidden  lesson.  If  you  do  not  like  your  environ- 
ment, your  circumstances,  the  duties  which  crowd 
your  busy  days ;  if  you  feel  yourself  called  to  higher 
things;  then  first  discover  what  in  you  has  brought 
them  so  near,  what  lesson  undiscovered  makes 
them  stay,  and  in  patient  service  make  them  step- 
ping stones  to  the  greater  things  you  crave. 


—35— 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"If  we  would  worship  God  or  Good 

Devotedly   through   life, 
Then  we  must  serve  the  brotherhood 

And  cheer  man  'mid  the  strife. 

My  creed  for  life  shall  be  some  deed 

To  help  man  on  his  way; 
I  serve  the  best  to  fill  some  need 

And  brighter  make  the  day. 

I'll  give  my  best  with  willing  trust, 

The  best  will  come  to  me, 
For  Nature's  laws  are  sure  and  just; 

The  Truth  shall  make  all  free." 

— John    Willis   Ring. 

"Service  is  love  in  action." 

— Gup  Bogarl. 

"No  man  is  born  into  the  world  whose  work  is 
not  bom  with  him." 

— James   Russell  Lowell. 


V.  UNIVERSAL  BROTHERHOOD 

"There  are  many  Races,  but  one  Brotherhood 
(Humanity)." 


more  inclusive  we  become  in  our  atti- 
tude  toward  life,  the  more  clearly  do  we 
see  the  wonderful  ties  that  bind  us  insepar- 
ably together  as  units  of  the  great  Brotherhood  of 
Humanity.  All  hatred,  jealousy  and  prejudice,  — 
the  grim  trinity,  —  are  transmuted  by  understand- 
ing and  a  recognition  of  the  Divine  idea  which 
each  race  of  the  brotherhood  represents.  Again 
the  beautiful  symbol  of  the  rainbow  and  its  seven 
colors  is  applicable.  In  the  light  of  the  Harmonial 
Philosophy  the  dread  "race  problem"  is  trans- 
formed. We  see  humanity  as  the  inclusive  white 
light  which  includes  all  the  color-rays;  and  yet 
because  we  see  the  unity  of  these  rays,  we  are  no 
less  conscious  or  appreciative  of  the  separate  colors. 
This  simply  analogy  will  wonderfully  help  the  stu- 
dent to  see  the  real  nature  of  the  race  problem 
and  the  harmonial  solution  for  it. 

So  far,  almost  all  discussion  of  the  relation  of 
the  different  races  to  each  other,  has  been  based 
upon  the  idea  of  a  supposititious  superiority  or  in- 
feriority existing  between  them.  We,  being  mem- 
bers of  the  Caucasian  race,  have  been  almost  unan- 
imous in  our  firm  belief  that  we  stand  vastly  higher 
in  the  scheme  of  evolution  and  development  than 
any  of  the  other  races.  There  are  certain  lines  of 
progress  in  which  we  undoubtedly  excel;  but  there 
is  an  equal  certainty  that  other  races  possess  qual- 
ities which  we  have  developed  very  little.  Each 

—17- 


of  us  as  an  individual  is  likely  to  have  difficulty  in 
clearly  discerning  his  own  status  of  development. 
We  are  too  close  to  ourselves  to  see  our  strong 
points  and  our  weaknesses  in  their  true  relation. 
Experience  indicates  that  this  statement  is  equally 
true  of  races,  as  a  general  thing.  It  is  not  easy  for 
us  to  become  so  detached  from  our  environment  of 
custom,  tradition  and  usage,  to  see  ourselves  as 
"ithers  see  us."  Therefore  the  analogy  of  color 
is  resorted  to  as  an  aid  in  viewing  ourselves  from  the 
more  nearly  impersonal  viewpoint. 

It  would  be  difficult  for  us  logically  to  defend 
the  position  that  any  of  the  colors  in  the  rainbow  is 
superior  to  the  others.  Our  scientific  study  of  color 
too  forcibly  impresses  us  with  the  fact  that  all  are 
component  parts  of  one  form  of  light  containing 
them.  We  may  more  clearly  see  the  value  of  one 
color  than  another;  we  may  have  a  partiality  for 
a  particular  hue;  but  reason  tells  us  that  even 
though  the  others  do  not  make  the  same  appeal  to 
our  appreciation,  they  are  of  equal  importance  in 
nature's  plan,  since  she  has  given  each  an  equal 
place  in  the  composition  of  light.  Even  in  objec- 
tive nature,  while  she  seems  partial  to  certain  colors 
in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  these  are  subordinated 
in  the  mineral  or  animal  worlds  to  others  which  are 
given  prominence,  so  that  a  balance  is  maintained. 
In  a  like  manner  the  impersonal  attitude  toward 
human  races  adjudges  them  as  relatively  of  equal 
importance. 

Races  are  related  to  each  other  much  as  individ- 
uals are.  As  human  beings  we  are  all  equal  in 
possibilities,  and  in  only  a  slightly  more  limited 

-38- 


sense,  in  opportunity;  yet  no  two  of  us  develop 
along  the  same  lines  or  in  the  same  way.  Some  of 
us  appear  to  have  attained^  a  greater  development 
than  others,  but  we  are  not  for  thar  reason  neces- 
sarily composed  of  finer  clay.  The  Divine  idea 
which  seeks  expression  through  any  one  individual, 
is  equal  in  quality  to  that  which  attempts  to  mani- 
fest through  every  other,  for  all  have  a  common 
Source.  One  may  more  perfectly  express  that 
which  he  represents;  but  the  idea  is  no  less  per- 
fect in  him  even  if  it  is  yet  dormant. 

We  must  all,  perforce,  climb  upward  to  reach 
the  summit  of  attainment.  Because  one  ascends 
more  slowly  than  another,  or  by  a  different  route, 
there  is  no  less  truly  one  end  in  view,  and  ulti- 
mately all  will  attain  it.  If  we  have  taken  a  step 
in  advance  of  some  of  our  fellow-travellers,  let  us 
feel  no  superiority  over  those  below  us.  We,  too, 
have  labored  there,  and  the  path  still  stretches  above 
us  all.  Those  now  below  may  in  time  reach  and 
pass  us.  There  are  periods  of  slow  and  of  rapid 
growth  in  the  life  of  all  things.  Races  do  not  vio- 
late this  universal  law.  Egypt  and  Rome  once  led 
the  world;  but  the  Occident  has  been  making  rapid 
strides  and  the  balance  has  shifted.  We  cannot 
say  it  will  not  shift  again. 

The  race  problem  is  not  a  natural  problem,  but 
an  artificial  one,  created  by  a  misunderstanding  of 
our  mutual  relations  as  individuals  and  races.  It 
is  man's  failure  to  accept  this  principle  of  equality 
that  has  given  rise  to  it.  The  idea  of  equality  here 
advocated  should  not  be  confused  with  the  doc- 
trine prevalent  among  certain  groups  of  individuals, 

—39— 


that  races  must  inter-marry  and  mingle  without 
any  differentiation  in  the  social  sense.  Because  the 
rainbow  colors  are  of  equal  beauty  and  value,  is 
no  reason  that  we  must  mix  them  to  prove  their 
equality.  Nor  is  the  opposite  of  this  argument 
necessarily  inferred.  The  ideas  of  equality  and 
of  inter-association  are  distinct  in  the  problems  they 
involve. 

In  other  forms  of  life  than  the  human,  distinct 
types  are  the  most  prized,  rather  than  those  which 
are  "crossed."  This  is  not  necessarily  due  to  any 
difference  in  adjudged  value  of  the  types  which 
contribute  to  the  "crossing"  process,  but  to  the 
admiration  inherent  in  man  (perhaps  with  a  sig- 
nificance not  yet  discerned)  for  any  living  thing 
which  is  true  to  type.  So,  perhaps,  with  a  broad- 
er, more  inclusive  understanding  of  an  equality  of 
value  among  races,  these  will  arrive  at  an  inde- 
pendence based  in  fraternity.  Thus  it  may  be  that 
we  shall  severally  respect  each  other  as  races;  that 
we  shall  accord  to  each  other  the  same  rights  we 
claim  for  ourselves,  and  shall  be  able,  with  mutual 
understanding  and  sympathy,  to  evolve  the  Divine 
ideas  we  racially  represent,  without  infringement 
upon  each  other's  rights  or  destiny.  Let  us  be 
true  to  the  idea  God  intended  us  to  express;  let 
us  develop  a  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things  which 
relies  on  nature  as  a  guide.  The  rose  does  not 
seek  to  be  an  herb;  it  sheds  its  perfume  on  the  air, 
grows  into  a  thing  of  wonderful  beauty  and  fra- 
grance. The  herb  is  not  envious  of  the  rose's  beau- 
ty, if  its  enthusiasm  in  its  own  growth  be  a  good 
indication.  Its  every  energy  is  centered  to  develop 


the  possibilities  implanted  in  it  by  the  law  of  its 
being.  It  does  well,  that  for  which  it  is  fitted;  ulti- 
mately it  may  save  a  human  life.  We  do  not  se- 
lect roses  for  medicine  or  herbs  for  perfume,  yet 
each  contributes,  in  its  own  way,  to  human  welfare 
and  happiness.  Let  us  "to  our  own  selves  be  true." 

We  must  attain  a  self-respect  which  will  remove 
from  our  thoughts  any  tendency  toward  envy,  on 
the  one  hand,  or  prejudice  on  the  other.  When  every 
man, — black,  white,  yellow,  or  red, — :is  so  im- 
pressed with  the  value  of  the  Divine  idea  his  race 
represents,  that  he  has  no  room  for  envy  of  the 
others,  and  is  so  mindful  of  the  value  of  the  others 
that  he  has  no  room  for  prejudices,  the  race  prob- 
lem will  be  solved  and  men  will  come  to  realize  in 
actuality,  what  is  already  true  of  them  in  reality, 
that  they  are  one  brotherhood. 

Each  race  is  pre-eminent  in  some  attainment; 
none  is  without  its  strength  or  its  weakness;  each 
represents  some  Divine  idea  of  the  Creator,  just  as 
every  individual  does.  If  you  are  a  black  man, 
rejoice  in  it  and  endeavor  to  exemplify  through 
your  life  the  completeness  of  the  wonderful  idea 
God  is  expressing  through  the  black  race.  If  you 
are  white,  a  member  of  the  race  which  in  the  pres- 
ent period  of  history,  leads  the  civilized  world,  then 
take  care  that  you  are  worthy  of  that  leadership. 
The  power  which  leadership  affords,  carries  with 
it  the  responsibility  of  its  just  and  merciful  use.  It 
implies  an  understanding,  a  sympathy  and  rever- 
ence for  those  whom  it  leads,  expressing  through 
humility  rather  than  arrogance.  It  should  be  pa- 
ternaJ  and  fraternal  rather  thari 

-41— 


There  is  a  wonderful  sense  of  independence,  of 
self-reliance,  which  comes  with  the  knowledge  of 
inter-dependence,  and  reliance  on  a  common  Source ; 
and  that  independence  and  self-reliance  should  be 
the  possession  of  every  race,  nation  and  individual. 
This  inspiring  consciousness  comes  as  a  result  of  ad- 
justment; the  balance  between  the  world  of  the 
individual  and  the  world  of  humanity,  between  all 
people  and  all  nations.  It  is  the  awakening  of  a 
consciousness  of  the  God  within  us,  and  its  relation 
to  the  same  essence  of  Divinity  in  all  else,  by 
which  all  things  are  transformed,  united  and  exalt- 
ed. Thus  are  the  nations  healed  and  thus  is  the 
brotherhood  of  races  exemplified. 


-42- 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"Honor  all  men.     Love  the  brotherhood." 

— /.   Peter   2:17. 

"Ye  are  all  the  leaves  of  one  tree  and  the  fruits 
of  one  arbor." 

—Baha  V//Q/I. 

"It  is  good  for  us  to  think  no  grace  or  blessing 
truly  ours  till  we  are  aware  that  God  has  blessed 
someone  else  with  it  through  us." 

—Phillips  Brooks. 

"If  we  love  one  another,  God  abideth  in  us,  and 
his  love  is  perfected  in  us.  .  .  He  that  loveth  not  his 
brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  cannot  love  God  whom 
he  hath  not  seen." 

— /.  John  4:12,20. 

"To  come  near  to  understanding  the  use  of 
materials  is  divine,  and  he  that  has  never  despised 
a  weaker  or  more  ignorant  than  himself  is  nearest 
to  this." 

— Edward  Carpenter. 


"A  mystic  bond  of  brotherhood  makes  all  men 
one." 

— Thomas  Carlyle. 


—43— 


VI.  UNIVERSAL  JUSTICE. 
There  are  mam;  Ideas,  but  one  Ideal  (Justice)." 

ACH  HUMAN  SOUL  represents  a  Divine 
idea  of  God,  working  out  into  conscious  ex- 
pression  its  latent  divinity ;  expressing  by  de- 
grees in  the  external  world  the  fullness  of  that 
which  is  already  existent  in  the  inner  world.  All 
souls  are  alike  in  this,  that  their  origin  is  uncon- 
scious union  with  a  common  Source,  and  that  their 
ultimate  destiny  is  conscious  union  with  that  same 
Source;  but  the  infinite  .details  by  which  this  evo- 
lution from  unconsciousness  to  consciousness  is  at- 
tained, varies  with  each  individual. 

In  surveying  this  condition  from  the  viewpoint 
of  the  manifest,  we  see  much  of  what  appears  to 
be  injustice,  imperfection,  and  violation  of  law, 
because  then  we  are  viewing  things  relatively.  From 
the  viewpoint  of  principle  (cause  and  effect) ,  it  be- 
comes clear  to  us  that  injustice,  imperfection,  and 
the  violation  of  the  law  are  only  appearances,  im- 
pressing us  as  they  do  because  of  our  limited  un- 
derstanding. They  exist  in  the  same  sense  that  we 
might  say  imperfections  exist  in  a  masterpiece  of 
sculpture  during  the  process  of  its  completion.  It 
will  express  perfection  when  it  is  complete,  and  it 
contains  that  perfection  inherently  all  during  the 
process.  The  mind  of  the  artist  conceives  it  per- 
fect before  his  fingers  touch  the  clay,  and  as  he 
labors  day  by  day,  to  fashion  his  ideal  in  the  ma- 
terial he  uses,  he  alone  is  able  to  see  with  the  vision 
of  the  Creator  the  ultimately  perfect  thing  he  has 
conceived.  To  all  others  it  appears  crude,  imper- 


feet,  and  possibly,  seems  to  violate  the  laws  of 
symmetry. 

So  with  humanity  and  all  life;  it  has  been  con- 
ceived in  perfection;  every  element  that  composes 
it  is  of  itself  perfect  material,  which  is  being 
molded  to  express  outwardly  the  Divine  idea, 
which  in  the  inward  sight  of  the  Creator,  already 
exists.  During  the  manifold  stages  by  which  the 
ideas  of  the  Creator  gradually  find  expression  in 
form,  the  beholder,  seeing  the  form  and  not  the 
spirit,  pronounces  it  imperfect.  The  only  imper- 
fection that  really  exists  is  in  the  mind  of  the 
ignorant  beholder. 

The  beholder  thinks  through  the  ages  without 
the  spiritual  vision  which  alone  can  see  the  per- 
fection of  God's  works.  Man  has  long  believed 
himself  to  be  imperfect  and  abused,  thrust  into  life 
without  his  volition,  compelled  to  work  out  severe 
problems  against  his  will,  suffering  unhappiness,  ill- 
ness and  defeat,  and  leaving  life  with  less  chance 
of  happiness  than  he  possessed  when  he  entered  it. 
From  this  viewpoint  he  has  failed  to  understand 
the  Divine  plan;  he  seems  to  believe  that  God  has 
deliberately  created  us  apart  from  Himself,  and 
has  thrust  us,  without  purpose,  into  life,  whereas  in 
reality  we  are  created  akin  to  God,  are  parts  of 
His  being,  so  that  it  is  really  He,  through  us,  who 
has  elected  to  undergo  the  experience  of  incarna- 
tion, for  the  working  out  of  His  purpose.  Not 
realizing  this,  and  seeing  apparent  injustice  in 
everything  about  him,  man  has  sought  to  correct 
this  condition  by  making  laws  of  his  own,  in  an  ef- 
fort to  satisfy  his  own  sense  of  right  or  expediency. 

—45— 


Then  because  even  to  his  imperfect  sense  of  right, 
material  justice  has  not  proved  adequate,  he  has 
involved  the  idea  of  mercy, — the  naive  confession 
of  his  own  inability  to  reconcile  his  own  ideas  of 
law  and  of  right. 

Man,  reasoning  from  effects,  has  conceived  God 
to  be  like  himself,  with  merely  magnified  powers 
and  attributes;  rather  than  thinking  of  himself  as 
being  like  God,  but  incompletely  expressing  his 
Godhood.  This  erroneous  concept  has  led  to  cer- 
tain ideas  which  have  become  so  rooted  in  man's 
consciousness,  that  it  has  taken  ages  for  him  to 
evolve  out  of  them.  One  of  these  is  that  justice  is 
incomplete  in  itself  and  must  be  supplemented  by 
what  man  calls  mercy.  This  is  man's  misconcep- 
tion of  the  Divine  urge  within  him  to  overcome  the 
limitations  he  has  surrounded  himself  with,  and 
declaring  the  existence  of  a  higher  law  than  human 
justice.  But  the  law  which  is  higher  than  justice, 
is  the  same  law,  expressing  absolutely  instead  of 
relatively.  Mercy  is  the  imperfect  attempt  of  man 
to  reconcile  his  execution  of  justice  with  what  his 
inner  nature  tells  him  it  should  be.  Human  justice 
is  always  approximate  rather  than  absolute;  and 
mercy  is  its  antithesis,  the  attempt  of  man  to  right 
what  he  knows  to  be  wrong.  The  limitations  of 
vision  and  understanding  which  characterize  most 
of  humanity,  at  the  present  time,  causes  him  to 
reason  more  from  effect  than  principle.  His  dis- 
pensations of  justice  are  similarly  inspired, — not 
usually  by  penetration  to  the  underlying  interior 
causes  of  the  deed  he  considers  wrong,  but  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  appraisal  of  the  manifest  situa- 


tion.  In  human  judgment  the  innocent  are  often 
punished  for  the  guilty,  and  we  know  that  some- 
times violation  of  the  law  is  not  wrong  in  any 
other  sense  than  that  it  conflicts  with  an  arbitrary 
code  of  conduct,  more  or  less  generally  accepted 
by  man.  So  between  absolute  justice  as  an  aspect 
of  Deity,  and  approximate  justice,  as  conceived 
and  executed  by  man,  a  wide  gap  intervenes,  les- 
sening in  width  as  human  development  approaches 
the  expression  of  its  latent  Divinity. 

A  great  writer  has  said  "Earthly  power  doth 
then  show  likest  God's,  when  mercy  seasons  jus- 
tice,'* which  is  true  in  principle,  but  not  in  state- 
ment. God's  justice  being  perfect,  needs  no  ad- 
justment; it  is  both  merciful  and  just.  There  can 
be  no  mercy  so  great  as  the  perfect  dispensation  of 
justice.  The  purpose  of  life,  which  is  to  know 
and  express  our  union  with  God,  is  attained  through 
experience.  We  know  God  through  His  laws. 
Only  by  the  perfect  action  of  those  laws  can  we 
know  Him  rightly  or  comprehend  accurately  our 
relationship  with  Him.  Anything  less  than  all 
good  is  partial  evil.  If  it  were  possible,  temporar- 
ily, to  set  aside  law  (which  it  is  not)  in  favor  of 
"mercy"  to  some  individual,  such  an  action  would 
have  to  be  atoned  for  ultimately,  and  so  it  would 
not  be  mercy  at  all. 

Nor  is  this  attitude  harsh  or  cruel;  rather  is  it 
infinitely  tender  and  loving;  it  substitutes  for  our 
pitiable  make-shift  of  justice, — never  accurate  and 
only  occasionally  and  imperfectly  eked  out  by  our 
idea  of  mercy, — the  inspiring  rule  of  Divine  law. 
Nothing  can  approach  in  justice,  in  mercy,  in 


—47  — 


loving  kindness,  the  execution  of  the  Ideal  Justice, 
for  in  its  working  all  things  combine  to  express  the 
greatest  good  for  each  and  all.  This  law  is  not 
a  merciless  one,  but  it  resents  any  violation  of  its 
absolute  mercy.  If  we  do  not  learn  of  its  work- 
ings harmoniously,  or  in  any  manner  seek  to  violate 
it,  we  at  once  bring  its  adverse  action  upon  our- 
selves. And  even  though  it  cause  us  pain,  it  is 
much  better  so  than  that  we  fail  in  learning  the 
law  of  our  being. 

So,  just  as  all  effects  merge  into  one  cause,  as 
all  laws  merge  into  one  principle,  as  all  states  of 
consciousness  merge  into  one  life,  and  all  planes  of 
life  into  one  world,  do  all  of  the  ideas  we  individ- 
ually represent  and  express,  merge  into  and  give 
evidence  of,  one  ideal,  Justice. 


-48- 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

" Divine  Mind  is  the  immortal  law  of  justice." 

— Mary    Balder   Eddy. 

"The  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  dawning  light 
that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." 

—Pro.  4:18. 

"More  eternal,  more  fundamental  than  your  suf- 
fering is  the  love,  the  justice,  the  thoughtfulness  of 
God.  Let  your  soul  rest  on  them  and  be  at  peace." 

—Phillips  Brooks. 

"Justice  is  a  germ  from  which  grows  the  flower, 
Wisdom;  and  the  fruit  is  Goodness." 

— John    Willis   Ring. 

"We  are  punished  because  our  entire  moral  be- 
ing, our  mind  no  less  than  our  character,  is  incapable 
of  living  and  acting  except  in  justice." 

Maeterlinck- 


-49- 


VII.  THE  WAY  OF  REALITY. 

"There  are  many  Illusions,  but  one  Reality 
(At-one-ment)" 

HIM  who  fails  to  see  the  absolute  one- 
ness  of  all  things,  there  constantly  arise  many 
questions  which  cause  perplexity  and  lead  to 
innumerable  misunderstandings  and  difficulties.  It  is 
well  (because  it  is  natural)  for  each  of  us  to  prize 
his  individuality,  that  indescribable  something  that 
distinguishes  him  from  all  other  beings :  and  yet  it  is 
a  very  poor  sort  of  individuality  whose  pride  is 
based  upon  separateness  from  other  expressions  of 
the  First  Cause.  The  Harmonial  attitude  toward 
our  individuality  and  its  relation  to  the  individuality 
of  others  is  this:  that  while  all  are  distinct  they  are 
not  separate  except  in  expression.  We  are  both 
many  and  one,  but  from  different  points  of  view;  in 
principle  we  are  one,  in  manifestation  many.  Our 
ultimate  destiny,  like  our  common  Source,  is  one: 
the  means  by  which  we  evolve  from  Source  to  ulti- 
mate are  many  and  as  varied  as  nature's  forms, 
through  which  they  find  expression. 

Reasoning  from  Effects  it  is  easily  seen  that 
confusion  may  arise  in  the  student's  mind  as  he 
gradually  embraces  in  knowledge  and  experience  an 
expanding  circle  of  consciousness,  including  con- 
stantly greater  and  more  numerous  concepts  of 
life.  The  dim  mysteries  of  the  Past  from  whence 
he  seems  to  have  emerged,  the  human  eagerness  to 
unfold  the  mystic  Future  and  "know"  the  des- 
tiny of  the  soul,  and  the  tremendous  urge,  which 
seems  little  short  of  necessity,  to  solve  the  manifold 

—50— 


problems  of  the  great  eternal  Present,  combine  to 
form  a  trinity  whose  magnitude  is  calculated  to 
weigh  down  the  student  seeking  to  solve  these  mys- 
teries singly.     He  rightly  feels  that  he  has  under- 
taken a  Herculean  task  whose  completion  he  can- 
not forecast;  and  from  the  point  of  view  he  allows 
himself  to  assume  this  is  true,  and  the  task  is  even 
greater  and  more  difficult  than  he  supposes.  Small 
wonder  that  many  students  of  so-called  advanced 
thought   become   mentally    deranged,    to   the   dis- 
couragement of  other  travellers  on  the  Path  of  At- 
tainment, who  are  dismayed  to  observe  this  evi- 
dence of  an  unbalanced  mind.     The  use  of  the 
word  "unbalanced"   to  describe  the  mental  state 
of  those  who  are  oppressed  by  the  great  problems 
they  have  undertaken  to  solve,  is  literal.  They  are 
actually  lacking  in  equilibrium.     True  mental  bal- 
ance consists  in  a  recognition  of  the  unity  of  Cause 
and  Effect,  of  Principle  and  Laws;  it  necessitates 
a  clear  conception  of  the  unity  in  principle  of  all 
these  problems  and  effects  and  an  equal  acceptance 
of  the  diversity  of  their  expression.    Who  seeks  to 
sever   these  two   elements,   Cause   and   Effect,   or 
Spirit  and  Form,  is  the  victim  of  the  greatest  of 
illusions.    "The  harmonial  thinker  thinks  from  the 
immutable  principle  inherent,"  as  the  Founder  of 
the  Harmonial  Philosophy,  Andrew  Jackson  Davis, 
has  truly  stated;  but  that  is  only  half  of  the  com- 
plete truth.      The  harmonial   thinker  thinks  from 
principle,  but  that  is  not  the  end  of  his  thinking, 
and   the  thought   is  only   fulfilled  by  the   further 
statement  that  he  thinks  toward  the  manifestation 
of  Principle  in  Laws,  or  of  Spirit  in  Form.    The 

—51— 


use  of  the  word  "from"  implies  two  extremes:  in- 
ception and  expression;  it  necessitates  the  prag- 
matic attitude  that  a  thought  does  not  justify  itself 
until  it  is  "carried  over"  into  tangibility.  Thus  the 
harmonial  thinker  thinks  from  the  immutable  prin- 
ciple toward  the  progressive  manifestation  of  that 
principle.  To  be  harmonially  balanced  the  student 
must  seek  to  attain  the  middle  ground,  to  establish 
himself  at  the  pivotal  point  of  balance  and  em- 
brace within  his  mind's  vision  the  two  extremes  of 
the  One  Reality. 

No  one  has  ever  succeeded  in  attaining  this 
equilibrium  of  himself  alone.  The  problem  is  too 
far-reaching  to  be  disposed  of  so  easily.  The  stu- 
dent must  think  of  himself,  not  only  as  a  unit  dis- 
tinct and  complete  in  itself,  but  likewise  as  a  com- 
ponent part  of  a  greater  unit, — the  One  Reality, 
— in  which  all  are  merged.  He  can  only  solve 
his  perplexity  and  reduce  diversity  to  unity  by  para- 
doxically adding  one  more  element  to  his  conscious 
thought.  If  he  reasons  from  Effects  he  must  in- 
clude the  Cause  as  well;  if  he  reasons  from  Spirit 
he  must  include  Form;  and  his  first  step  in  embrac- 
ing the  One  Reality  is  to  learn  that  Cause  precedes 
Effect,  that  Spirit  precedes  Form,  and  Principle 
Laws, — precedes  them  in  point  of  time,  which 
seem  so  necessary  to  finite  understanding.  Then  it 
will  be  that  he  shall  ally  himself  first  with  the  One 
Cause,  and  second  with  the  manifold  Effects  of 
this  Cause,  not  as  separate  factors  in  his  reason- 
ing process,  but  as  the  halves  of  one  thing, — the 
One  Reality  which  includes  both.  So  it  will  be 
seen  that  all  success  in  understanding  and  thereby 


solving  the  problems  of  the  world  and  overcoming 
the  illusions  which  are  so  deceptive  to  the  unbal- 
anced mind,  consists  in  working  toward  that  attain- 
ment, not  alone,  but  in  unity  with  the  Father  of 
Being,  God,  as  Cause,  and  with  Mother  Nature, 
Form  or  Effect.  God  the  Cause,  Nature  the  Ef- 
fect, and  man  the  ultimate,  is  the  divine  trinity  by 
which  an  understanding  of  the  One  Reality  is 
attained. 

The  old  injunction  "Man,  know  thyself,'*  so 
often  cited  to  students,  strikes  a  responsive  chord 
in  every  soul  who  seeks  truth,  let  pessimists  doubt 
as  they  will.  In  regard  to  self-knowledge,  as  in 
most  other  respects,  human  intent  is  basically  good. 
Men  often  shun  self-knowledge,  but  for  the  rea- 
son that  the  very  little  they  have  is  a  guilty  sort 
of  possession.  When  man  does  not  wish  to  know 
himself  it  is  because  he  not  only  has  no  knowledge 
of  his  Real  Self,  but  actually  has  failed  to  con- 
ceive that  it  is  worth  while  becoming  acquainted 
with.  Human  history  is  sufficient  to  indicate  that 
it  is  possible  for  man,  even  with  good  intent,  tem- 
porarily so  far  to  miss  the  discovery  of  his  true 
nature  as  to  imagine  that  the  only  "self"  of  him 
that  exists  is  the  objective  self  which  expresses,  as 
he  thinks,  so  imperfectly.  It  is  not  strange  then  that 
man  has  sought  for  inspiration  from  other  sources 
than  Self. 

In  the  age  of  man's  development  just  closing, 
this  tendency  to  seek  outwardly  for  an  understand- 
ing of  life,  may  well  prove  to  be  the  reason  for 
human  intentness  on  unravelling  the  tangled  threads 
of  the  Past  and  trying  to  peer  into  the  Future. 

—53— 


Unaware  of  the  rich  legacy  of  wisdom  lying  dor- 
mant within  him,  man,  with  commendable  persist- 
ence though  faulty  judgment,  has  sought  for  un- 
derstanding from  the  exterior  world  alone.  Since 
this  outer  world  is  one  of  Effects  rather  than 
Cause,  the  manifold  expressions  of  Being  have 
more  deeply  impressed  him  than  has  the  One  Cause, 
or  Principle,  in  which  all  are  united;  in  other 
words,  the  incidents  along  the  path  of  life  have 
engaged  more  of  his  attention  than  either  the 
Source  or  the  goal;  not  that  man  has  wished  to  be 
thus  diverted,  but  he  has  found  the  details  more 
easily  discoverable  (by  reason  of  the  outward  di- 
rection of  his  search)  than  the  more  fundamental 
objects  of  inquiry.  And  even  while  allowing  him- 
self to  be  misled  (with  recurring  intimations  from 
his  unrecognized  Real  Self,  that  he  has  taken  the 
more  difficult  course)  he  has  done  so  in  the  sublime 
hope  that  ultimately  he  shall  attain  the  object  of 
his  search, — understanding.  And  he  will:  but  he 
has  adopted  a  method  of  reasoning  from  Effects 
which  is  much  slower  and  more  fraught  with  un- 
certainties than  the  more  fundamental  and  truly 
harmonial  way  of  reasoning  from  the  Cause. 

By  classifying  and  studying  the  laborious  tech- 
nique which  sometimes  serves  to  awaken  memories 
of  the  past  and  recall  the  steps  by  which  we  have 
evolved  through  other  fragments  of  existence,  and 
by  boldly  venturing  into  the  maze  of  ignorant  and 
wilful  deception  which  surrounds  the  investigation 
of  psychic  phenomena,  and  a  penetration  of  the 
future  state,  man  may  achieve  a  consciousness 
which  will  ultimately  point  him  back  to  the  Real 


Source  of  knowledge ;  but  such  a  course  is  compar- 
able to  the  other  alternative,  as  tracing  the  wind- 
ing course  of  a  spiral  spring  is  to  ascending  per- 
pendicularly through  its  center.  There  exists  with- 
in man  at  all  times  an  at-one-ment  with  the  First 
Cause  of  Being.  This  thought  has  been  sufficiently 
explained  in  the  preceding  lessons  of  this  volume 
to  need  no  further  elaboration,  and  is  axiomatic 
in  a  consideration  of  Harmonial  Philosophy.  Of 
this  at-one-ment  man  is  often  unaware,  which  fact 
in  no  wise  lessens  its  reality,  but  may  prevent  its 
harmonious  manifestation.  This  awareness  opens 
to  man  possibilities  of  which  he  is  as  yet  but  dimly 
conscious;  it  is  the  way  of  all  knowledge,  all  pow- 
er, all  understanding,  all  truth.  It  is  the  "Way" 
of  which  the  Christ  spoke  when  He  said,  "I  am 
the  Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life.*'  The  charac- 
ter of  the  Christ  is  a  symbolical  portrayal  of  the 
Spirit  in  man  which  is  at-one  with  God.  Paul 
asked  of  the  Corinthians,  "Know  ye  not  that  your 
body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  is  in 
you?"  This  is  the  mystical  I  AM  so  often  referred 
to  in  advanced  thought  literature.  Man  may  ac- 
cept the  Way  and  gain  the  truth  and  the  life  in 
consequence,  by  becoming  consciously  at-one  with 
the  Father  as  Christ  said  He  was;  or  we  may  try 
the  many  other  "ways"  which  are  so  profusely 
presented  to  truth-seekers,  and  through  them  ulti- 
mately discover  that  all  ways  merge  into  the  Way. 
We  may  take  the  "straight  and  narrow  way"  of 
at-one-ment,  or  more  slowly  achieve  the  same  re- 
sult by  taking  the  circuitous,  spiral,  outward 
course.  Both  lead  upward.  The  spiral  spring 


—55— 


itself  forms  a  perpendicular,  defining  or  enclosing 
the  narrow  space  within.      "Choose  ye.'* 

This  lesson  should  define  to  the  student's  mind 
the  Harmonial  attitude  toward  all  of  the  advanced 
cults  and  isms  which  are  seeking  to  lead  man  to- 
ward truth.  They  are  as  the  many  stars  of  the 
heavens.  Each  one  helps  to  prepare  the  soul  for 
the  greater  sunlight  of  truth  which  includes  them 
all,  and  by  reason  of  which  they  are  seen.  They 
are  based,  generally  speaking,  on  Effects  rather 
than  Cause,  and  so  are  more  apt  to  mislead  than 
to  guide  the  student,  since  their  light  is  partial 
rather  than  complete.  All  bear  witness  to  truth 
and  they  may  seem  to  give  evidence  of  truth,  but 
"true  evidences  come  through  the  two  inward 
sources  of  wisdom, — intuition  and  reflection"  so 
that  whatever  seems  wrong  or  undesirable, — the 
many  illusions, — are  made,  in  accordance  with 
immutable  Principle,  to  lead  at  last,  though  by 
devious  ways,  to  the  One  Reality,  At-one-ment. 
"Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  (within)  and  all 
these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you  (you  will 
understand  their  one-ness)." 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"All  is  of  God  that  is  and  is  to  be, 
And  God  is  good,  let  this  suffice  us  still." 

— /.  G.   Whiiiitr. 

"Those  who  dare  to  be  truthful  to  inward  sources 
of  knowledge  will  feel  positive  evidences  of  immor- 
tality, and  by  such  the  manifestations  of  spiritual- 
ism will  not  be  sought  as  evidences.*' 

— Andrew    Jackson    Davis. 

" Nature  and  God  and  I  as  One, 
Work  in  accord  till  work  is  done." 

— John    Willis  Ring. 

"The  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but 
the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal." 

— //.  Cor.  4:18. 

"He  who  can  open  the  bud  does  it  so  simply. 

He  gives  it  a  glance,  and  the  life-sap  stirs 
through  its  veins. 

At  his  breath  the  flower  spreads  its  wings  and 
flutters  in  the  wind. 

Colors  flush  out  like  heart-longings,  the  perfume 
betrays  a  sweet  secret. 

He  who  can  open  the  bud  does  it  so  simply." 

— Rabindranath  Tagore. 


—57— 


VIII.    FORM  AND  CONSCIOUSNESS. 

"There  are  many  Kingdoms,   but  one   Source 
(Divinity  )." 


intimate  relationship  that  exists  between 
the  one  individual  and  the  many,  does  not 
stop  there.  Even  as  the  members  of  hu- 
manity are  inseparably  bound  together  by  the  law 
of  unity,  so  are  they  also  related  to  all  other  forms 
of  life,  and  to  all  that  is.  The  illusion  of  separate- 
ness  has  not  been  overcome  so  long  as  we  still  are 
lacking  in  a  sense  of  our  oneness  with  what  we 
term  the  lower  forms  of  life.  The  principle  which 
animates  the  animal  kingdom  is  no  less  divine  than, 
and  is  no  different  in  essence  from  the  vivifying 
principle  in  man.  The  apparently  Inanimate  rock 
beneath  our  feet  is  only  seemingly  lifeless;  and  is 
pulsating  with  the  prophecy  of  coming  animation. 
The  vegetable  and  floral  kingdoms  express  a  life 
that  is  intimately  related  to  the  vast  mineral  world 
from  which  it  has  sprung,  and  to  the  animal  world 
toward  which  its  evolution  trends;  and  all  these 
different  forms  of  life  are  but  progressive  steps  in 
the  one  grand  scale  of  existence.  In  the  harmony 
of  progress,  each  note  sounds  a  clarion  tone,  and 
represents  a  definite  idea  of  the  Divine  Mind.  In 
man  these  notes  are  blended  to  form  a  perfect  har- 
mony whose  tones  are  sounded  separately  by  other 
forms  of  life.  Thus  man  is  greater  than  the  so- 
called  lower  kingdoms  only  in  that  he  expresses 
more  than  they  do,  or  expresses  in  unified  form 
what  they  express  separately. 

Man  is  the  apex  of  a  triangle  of  existence  whose 


base  is  the  mineral  kingdom,  and  whose  interme- 
diary steps  are  formed  by  the  vegetable  and  animal 
kingdoms.  He  is  as  intimately  related  to  them  as 
the  figure  implies,  and  exists  as  an  objective  entity, 
by  reason  of  the  basis  for  his  expression  which 
they  have  formed.  The  principles,  laws,  forces 
and  essences  which  they  specifically  represent,  are 
given  combined  or  centralized  expression  in  the 
human  organism.  Physical  man  is  a  microcosmic 
embodiment  of  all  the  varied  elements  which  com- 
pose the  different  kingdoms  of  nature.  The  bone 
structure  of  every  animal,  the  circulatory  system 
of  plants,  and  the  chemical  properties  of  the  min- 
eral world  are  united,  refined,  and  given  new  and 
more  beautiful  expression  in  the  human  organism. 
Every  form  of  life  that  exists  seems  to  have  given 
its  choicest  gifts  to  perfect  the  fleshly  temple  through 
which  the  spirit  of  man  evolves  consciousness.  Thus 
man's  only  claim  to  physical  superiority  over  the 
rest  of  creation,  is  due  to  his  greater  inclusion;  to 
the  fact  that  he  expresses  in  one  what  they  express 
in  many,  that  he  unites  in  the  whole-ness  of  one 
form  what  elsewhere  manifests  partially  through 
many  forms. 

Thus  man  owes  a  fabulous  debt  to  the  lower 
forms  of  life,  and  it  is  ill-befitting  that  he  should 
scoff  at  the  steps  by  which  he  has  climbed;  the 
fabric  from  which  his  wonderful  garment  of  flesh 
is  fashioned.  With  an  understanding  of  his  inti- 
mate relationship  to  other  forms  of  life  it  is  difficult 
to  conceive  how  he  can  entertain  for  them  any  other 
feeling  but  that  of  deepest  love  and  reverence;  to 
think  that  through  their  travail  and  suffering,  their 


mute  patience,  and  the  inevitable  tragedy  which 
characterizes  life  in  the  animal  world  particularly, 
the  forms  beneath  our  feet  are  evolving,  preparing, 
and  giving  of  their  very  selves,  to  fashion  the  bodies 
we  so  often  degrade  and  abuse.  Strange  indeed 
that  man  should  be  ashamed  of  his  body;  that  he 
should  seek  to  disguise  and  distort  and  insult  it; 
and  stranger  still  that  he  can  be  moved  by  a  de- 
structive spirit  such  as  no  other  form  of  nature  need 
acknowledge,  to  ruthlessly  maim  and  blight  the 
humble  life  to  which  he  owes  so  much.  Small  won- 
der that  he  disclaims  the  passion  which  so  poorly 
becomes  him,  and  seeks  to  shift  his  shame  by  sweep- 
ing reference  to  his  "animal"  nature. 

This  same  intimate  relationship  which  exists  be- 
tween man  and  other  expressions  of  nature  on  the 
material  plane  of  life,  is  also  borne  out  upon  the 
spiritual  plane  of  existence,  and  even  as  man  is 
supreme  in  the  material  world  by  reason  of  his  in- 
clusion, so,  too,  is  he  the  dominant  power  in  the 
spiritual  world;  not  that  the  spirit  of  man  is  more 
truly  divine  than  is  that  of  the  other  kingdoms, 
for  the  quality  of  the  spiritual  essence  is  alike  in 
all  things;  but  as  man  includes  within  himself  more 
on  the  physical  plane  than  does  any  one  other  ma- 
terial form,  so  in  the  subtle  realm  of  spirit,  he  is 
likewise  blessed  by  a  greater  impregnation  of  the 
divine  energy.  Endowed  alike  in  spirit  and  form 
with  possibilities  which  exceed,  by  reason  of  their 
extent,  those  of  any  other  phase  of  existence,  the 
third  force  which  unites  and  correlates  these  two 
great  powers  for  his  use,  is  that  of  mind.  It  is  in 


—30-- 


the  mental  realm  that  the  connecting  link  is  made, 
whereby  that  which  is  innermost  within  (spirit)  and 
that  which  is  outermost  in  expression  (form)  are 
guided  into  the  harmonious  co-operative  expression 
natural  to  them.  In  the  wondrous  realm  of  mind 
is  conceived  all  that  is  involved  in  spirit  and  evolved 
through  form;  and  it  is  in  this  potent  realm  of  be- 
ing that  the  student  gains  the  clearest,  conception 
of  his  relation  to  the  several  kingdoms. 

The  commencement  of  all  manifestation  is  men- 
tal. The  conception  of  all  creation  must  first  have 
existed  as  pragmatic  thought  in  the  Divine  Mind 
before  it  was  carried  over  into  expression  through 
form.  Thus  in  order  of  occurrence,  all  of  the 
manifold  expressions  of  life,  mineral,  vegetable, 
floral,  animal  and  human  must  first  have  existed 
in  God-consciousness  as  Divine  Ideas.  The  order 
of  conception  in  consciousness  is  parallel  to  that  of 
expression  in  form.  In  point  of  exactness  all 
"things"  are  Ideas  first,  and  forms  second.  The 
form  is  but  the  objectivity  of  the  thought,  the  pic- 
turization  in  temporality  of  that  which  is  eternal  in 
spirit.  The  mineral  world,  with  its  perfect  geo- 
metric crystals,  and  its  wonderfully  exact  arith- 
metic formulas  and  proportions,  is  the  reflection  in 
outward  semblance,  of  the  first  expression  of  all 
creation,  as  being  numerical  and  mathematical. 
The  vegetable  and  floral  kingdoms  express  these 
principles  in  combination  with  still  others;  the  ani- 
mal kingdom  adds  yet  more  to  the  evolution  of 
Ideas,  and  the  human  form  expresses  the  focali- 
zation  of  what  might  well  be  termed  "world-con- 

—61— 


sciousness."  As  man  himself  possesses  an  individ- 
ual consciousness  which  is  the  measure  of  his  own 
development,  so  there  is  a  mass  consciousness  which 
is  representative  of  the  combined  consciousness  of 
all  creation.  As  man  and  other  forms  of  being 
evolve  by  constantly  expanding  degrees  the  Divine 
conception  of  Spirit,  this  world-consciousness 
changes,  manifesting  with  increasing  refinement 
and  beauty,  the  stupendous  conception  whose  first 
impulsion  was  from  the  Divine  Mind. 

From  the  foregoing,  it  will  be  seen  that  all  ob- 
jective forms  of  the  material  world  are  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  the  imprint  in  matter,  of  a  state 
of  consciousness,  in  which  the  human  development 
(as  expressed  through  man's  mental  consciousness) 
is  the  greatest  single  determining  factor.  As  man 
progressively  gives  more  complete  expression  to  the 
powers  within  him,  thus  augmenting  the  " world- 
consciousness"  proportionately,  the  forms  assumed 
in  objectivity  gradually  change  to  keep  pace  with 
such  development.  We  have  only  to  compare  the 
forms  of  the  lower  kingdoms  of  past  ages  with 
those  of  the  present,  to  see  the  upward  trend  of  all 
life.  Man  who  is  at  once  the  embodiment, — and, 
in  part,  the  cause, — of  all  forms  of  life,  is  insep- 
arably linked  in  expression  and  destiny,  with  those 
of  the  various  kingdoms  below  him.  His  failure  to 
recognize  their  common  Source  and  Divinity,  and 
his  own  one-ness  with  them,  retards  his  own  prog- 
ress by  retarding  theirs.  As  he  belittles  them  he 
mitigates  against  his  own  best  interests.  As  he 
seeks  and  discloses  the  wonderful  mystery  of  his 

—62— 


own  relation  to  them,  and  sees  in  them  his  own  re- 
flected self,  he  is  enabled  to  understand  his  own 
nature  more  clearly,  and  harmonize  the  all  with 
the  One. 

Who  seeks  to  save  himself  alone 
Seeks  what  has  never  yet  been  done; 
For  all  are  one,  say  Tvhat  you  U>i7/, 
Deny  the  truth  it  conquers  still; 
In  selflessness  is  progress  TV  on. 


—63— 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"Know  that  like  birds  and  beasts  and  flowers 

The  life  that  moves  you  is  divine; 
Nor  time  nor  space  nor  human  powers 
Your  God-like  spirit  can  confine." 

— Elizabeth  Dolen. 

"There  is  a  mutual  affinity  existing  between  all 
forms  and  substances  throughout  Nature,  including 
the  mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal  kingdoms." 

— Andrew    Jackson    Davis. 

"He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 
All  things,  both  great  and  small." 

— S.    T.   Coleridge. 

"As  water  rained  on  broken  ground  runs  away 
among  the  mountains;  so  he  who  beholds  separate 
natures  runs  hither  and  thither  after  them. 

"As  pure  water  poured  in  pure  remains  the  same, 
so  is  the  Self  of  the  discerning  sage." 

— The  Upanishads. 


—64— 


IX.     ADJUSTMENT. 

"There  are    mam;    Efforts,    but    one    Purpose 
(Unfoldment)" 

*f   IfLL  human  effort  resolves  itself,  at  last,  into 
\  the  accomplishment  of  one  specific  purpose; 

and  whether  he  sets  about  this  purpose  with 
understanding  of  its  nature  or  not,  man's  desires 
and  circumstances  both  conspire  to  Its  accomplish- 
ment. The  urge  to  fulfill  it  is  felt  by  every  man 
at  some  time  or  other,  and  manifests  in  outward  ex- 
pression according  to  the  development  of  the  indi- 
vidual. The  highest  methods  of  Deity  are  some- 
times subserved  to  small  ends.  It  may  express  in 
a  lust  for  wealth  or  power,  or  some  destructive  ex- 
pression of  energy,  such  as  the  commission  of  a 
morbid  crime,  or  indulgence  in  some  destroying 
vice.  It  may  be  the  incentive  for  a  work  of  art, 
a  masterpiece  of  music,  or  for  a  life  of  helpful 
willing  service.  The  basic  principle  underlying 
them  all  is  the  same,  and  whether  it  manifests  desir- 
ably or  otherwise  is  in  accordance  with  how  much 
or  how  little  of  the  true  nature  of  the  inner  urge  the 
individual  has  apprehended.  So  the  same  energy 
that  inspires  one  man  to  some  deed  of  heroism  may 
manifest  in  another  as  a  destructive  impulse;  and 
this,  not  because  the  urge  in  one  is  Divine  and  in 
the  other  demoniacal,  but  because  the  direction  it 
takes  depends  upon  the  channel  through  which  it 
expresses,  just  as  the  channel  of  a  stream  depends, 
not  upon  the  quality  of  the  water,  but  upon  the 
"lay  of  the  land." 

Man    is    eternally    seeking    something, — which 


usually  he  accepts  as  existing,  but  regarding  whose 
details  he  is  rather  hazy;  and  this  ephemeral  ideal 
becomes  the  basis  of  all  his  endeavor.  He  may 
think  that  money,  or  fame,  or  power,  or  health  or 
freedom  from  some  material  limitation  which  op- 
presses him,  will  bring  into  expression  that  which 
he  seeks;  but  in  the  last  analysis  he  discovers  that 
it  is  none  of  these  things,  as  such,  which  have  the 
power  to  transform  his  life  and  make  real  and 
tangible  the  illusory  phantom  he  seeks.  And  when 
he  has  attaind  the  wealth  or  power  or  health  or 
freedom  which  he  sought,  he  may  learn,  as  he  can 
seldom  bring  himself  to  realize  otherwise,  that  these 
things  are  not  the  end,  but  the  means,  and  that  the 
thing  he  really  seeks  is  happiness,  or  content  of 
mind.  It  may  be  that  the  thing  for  which  he  has 
striven  will  bring  him  what  he  seeks,  and  there  is 
one  way  in  which  he  may  sometimes  foretell  wheth- 
er or  not  it  will.  True  happiness  is  the  result  of  a 
state  of  mind,  induced  by  the  consciousness  that  he 
is  expressing  the  thing  for  which  he  is  best  fitted  in 
life, — that  he  has  found  his  place  and  is  filling  it. 
If  he  has  done  this;  if  the  object  to  which  he  gives 
his  life  is  in  answer  to  an  inner  urge,  and  he  does 
it  for  the  joy  he  finds  in  the  doing,  rather  than  for 
merely  material  gratification  of  some  sort,  he  may 
be  quite  sure  that  he  has  discovered  the  purpose  of 
his  existence,  and  in  the  fulfillment  of  it  he  will 
find  the  content,  the  happiness  which  he  desires. 
A  beautiful  old  legend  tells  the  story  of  how 
the  voice  of  the  Lord  (Law)  spoke  to  Solomon, 
the  son  of  David,  in  a  dream;  and  said,  "Ask 
what  I  shall  give  thee."  And  Solomon  answered, 


"O,  Lord,  my  God,  thou  hast  made  thy  servant 
king  instead  of  David  my  father;  and  I  am  but  a 
little  child;  for  I  know  not  how  to  go  out  or  come 
in.  And  thy  servant  is  in  the  midst  of  thy  people 
which  thou  hast  chosen,  a  great  people,  that  can- 
not be  numbered  nor  counted  for  multitude.  Give 
therefore  thy  servant  an  understanding  heart  to 
judge  thy  people,  that  I  may  discern  between  good 
and  evil;  for  who  is  able  to  judge  this  thy  so 
great  a  people." 

And  the  Lord  was  pleased  and  answered  that 
because  Solomon  had  chosen  so  wisely,  and  had 
not  asked  for  temporal  blessings,  long  life  and 
riches,  or  revenge  upon  his  enemies,  but  had  asked 
for  judgment;  that  he  should  also  have  the  things 
he  had  not  asked,  riches  and  honor  and  long  life 
as  well  as  understanding. 

Happiness  comes  with  striving  toward  the  ex- 
pression of  life's  purpose, — the  unfoldment  of  the 
Divine  idea  inherently  possessed, — and  once  a 
realization  of  this  fact  is  attained,  and  the  soul's 
mission  in  life  discovered,  "all  these  things"  shall 
be  added.  In  the  story  of  Solomon,  the  soul-of- 
man  is  represented  as  having  attained  a  knowledge 
that  unfoldment  is  the  purpose  of  life,  and  hence 
his  prayer  to  the  God-within  is  not  for  material 
blessings,  since  he  knows  these  are  temporal  and 
do  not  of  themselves  bring  that  which  he  seeks,  but 
rather  does  he  pray  for  "an  understanding  heart," 
that  he  may  judge  his  people,  who  are  a  multitude 
beyond  counting.  These  people  symbolize  the 
myriad  thoughts  which  fill  the  mind  of  the  aspiring 
student  of  truth ;  and  one  of  the  great  lessons  to  be 


learner!  in  the  process  of  unfoldment  is  to  choose 
one's  thoughts  carefully,  to  cease  the  careless  habit 
of  aimless  thinking,  and  to  select  from  the  multi- 
tude which  Dress  against  the  gates  of  our  con- 
sciousness, only  such  as  will  further  the  soul's  best 
interests, — which  means,  of  course,  the  best  inter- 
ests of  all  as  well. 

It  Js  sometimes  taught  that  life  is  not  for  happi- 
ness, but  for  experience,  and  that  he  who  aspires  to 
happiness  seeks  in  vain.  Sometimes,  too,  just  the 
reverse  of  this  admonishment  is  impressed  upon  the 
student's  mind:  that  happiness  is  the  true  goal  of 
life,  and  that  jubilance  is  the  first  duty  of  the  aspir- 
ins soul.  If  we  conceive  experience  as  a  means  to 
self -unfoldment,  and  happiness  to  mean,  not  aban- 
don, but  allegiance  to  that  which  is  best  in  us,  the 
two  statements  are  reconciled  and  express  a  truth. 
The  soul's  highest  duty  and  greatest  pleasure  are 
one,  and  both  are  fulfilled  when  man  is  true  to 
himself. 

If  you  are  unhappy,  discontented,  "a  round  peg 
in  a  square  hole"  you  may  be  quite  sure  that  you 
have  not  yet  discovered  your  life's  purpose, — 
though  each  circumstance  of  existence  is  the  agent 
of  Deity,  and  is  working  toward  that  purpose.  In 
reality  every  experience  of  our  lives  is  in  some  way 
furthering  the  Divine  Plan,  and  the  difference  be- 
tween happiness  and  unhappiness  is  not  primarily 
one  of  circumstance  but  of  consciousness.  Learning 
to  live  the  harmonial  life  of  consciously  furthering 
God's  purpose,  is  very  much  like  learning  anything 
else,  and  there  is  the  same  difference  of  feeling 
between  doing  it  knowingly,  for  the  joy  of  it  and 


in  anticipation  of  its  object,  or  drudging  through 
something  that  does  not  interest  you,  that  may  be 
very  disagreeable,  and  unintelligible  to  you.  The 
child  who  is  forced  to  learn  multiplication  tables 
till  his  whole  little  mental  world  reels  with  figures 
which  are  without  meaning  to  him,  is  never  so  will- 
ing or  happy  a  student  as  the  one  to  whom  their 
meaning  and  purpose  have  been  explained.  The 
first  feels  that  he  is  being  deprived  of  enjoying 
something  else  which  would  be  infinitely  more  in- 
teresting and  worth-while ;  he  is  humiliated  by  being 
forced  to  do  something  against  his  will,  and  will 
probably  forget  the  lesson  he  is  supposed  to  be 
learning  just  as  soon  as  possible.  The  second  feels 
that,  even  though  he  might  like  to  do  something 
else  for  the  moment,  he  is  going  to  a  little  trouble 
now  to  save  much  when  he  grows  older;  he  is 
made  a  sort  of  partner  with  his  teacher  in  prepar- 
ing the  future  of  the  man  that  he  will  be  some 
day.  The  multiplication  is  the  same  in  both  in- 
stances, but  the  attitude  is  vastly  different.  So  it  is 
with  life;  not  its  circumstances,  but  consciousness 
of  their  purpose  is  what  brings  happiness. 

Building  a  life  is  like  building  a  house.  When 
the  process  is  started  it  requires  all  the  faith  of  one 
not  familiar  with  the  methods  employed  to  sustain 
him  during  the  period  when  excavation  is  going 
on,  and  even  the  solid  earth  is  invaded.  Instead  of 
a  towering  structure  looms  a  dark  hole.  During  the 
whole  subsequent  period  of  construction  an  unsight- 
ly tower  of  scaffolding  distorts  the  symmetry  of  the 
slowly  growing  house;  and  he  must  be  keen  indeed 
who  can,  with  prophetic  vision,  keep  single-eyed  to 


the  ultimate  structure  in  the  face  of  so  much  that 
seems  unnecessary  and  unsightly.  Even  so  it  is 
with  the  soul;  and  the  student  must  be  well  forti- 
fied by  an  understanding  of  the  purpose  of  life, 
and  the  varied  means  used  in  its  accomplishment, 
to  withstand  the  doubts  which  seeming  failure  and 
other  negative  conditions  in  life  arouse. 

No  one  can  impart  to  another  the  serenity  which 
comes  with  understanding  and  adjustment  to  life's 
purpose;  it  is  awakened  and  quickened  into  expres- 
sion not,  usually,  by  a  life  of  asceticism  and  detach- 
ment, or  the  mortification  of  the  flesh,  but  by  be- 
coming a  very  part  of  all  other  life.  By  serving 
humanity  do  we  best  serve  God  and  our  own  in- 
terests. By  finding  the  spark  of  Divinity  in  others 
do  we  rouse  it  to  a  flame  within  ourselves.  And 
once  it  is  found,  it  best  fulfills  its  mission  by  lighting 
the  lives  and  warming  the  hearts  of  others. 


-70- 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"The  perfect  dawn  is  near  when  you  will  mingle 
your  life  with  all  life,  and  know  at  last  your 
purpose." 

— Rabindranath  Tagore. 

"Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow." 

—Matt.    6:28. 

"Human  improvement  is  from  within  outward." 

— Froude. 

"Within  man  is  the  soul  of  the  whole;  the  wise 
silence;  the  universal  beauty,  to  which  every  part 
and  particle  is  equally  related;  the  eternal  ONE." 

— Ralph    Waldo   Emerson. 


-71 — 


X.     ONENESS 

"There  are  many  Forms,  but  one  Religion 
(Truth).9' 

SCIENCE  tells  us  that  of  all  the  millions 
of  people  who  inhabit  the  earth,  no  two 
have  ever  been  discovered  to  have  bodies 
which  are  just  alike.  There  have  been  many 
famous  cases  of  "doubles/  but  their  resemblance 
is  only  approximate  and  differs  in  innumerable 
ways.  Nature  seems  to  have  made  an  especial 
mould  for  every  form  she  has  cast.  There  is 
something  awe-inspiring  about  the  fact  that  Na- 
ture never  duplicates.  Every  man's  temple  has 
been  designed  for  himself  alone.  And  what  is 
true  of  the  bodies  we  wear,  is  equally  true  of 
our  minds;  they  are  startlingly  similar  in  a  few 
general  respects,  yet  vastly  different  in  detail. 
In  so  far  as  we  are  true  to  ourselves  we  are 
original.  "Imitation  is  suicide." 

It  is  only  in  detail  of  expression  that  originality 
and  identity  exist.  When  we  speak  concerning 
principle,  when  we  act  upon  the  great  vital  issues 
of  existence  there  is  never  any  great  variation; 
we  are  wonderfully  alike.  But  when  it  comes 
to  the  expression  of  our  ideas  concerning  those 
principles  and  vital  issues  we  are  wonderfully 
different.  This  is  the  beautiful  method  of  Nature 
by  which  all  things  conform  in  general  to  a  type 
from  whose  pattern  she  will  not  let  us  wander 
very  far,  but  within  the  limits  of  whose  boundary 
she  allows  infinite  variation.  In  principle  all  are 
one;  in  expression  all  differ.  Upon  questions  of 


principle  men  are  seldom  at  variance;  it  is  in  re- 
gard to  the  manner  in  which  principle  shall  mani- 
fest that  differences  arise. 

Religion  is  no  exception  to  this  rule.  Most  of 
the  differences  which  separate  the  hundreds  of 
cults  of  the  world  are  not  differences  in  essentials, 
but  in  accretions  and  form.  " Difference  of  prin- 
ciple" is  a  commonly  used  but  commonly  mean- 
ingless phrase,  because  what  we  generally  term 
"principle"  is  not  principle  at  all,  but  is  more 
often  some  variety  of  "form"  disguised.  There 
is  a  prevalent  tendency  among  religionists  to  allow 
the  whole  truth  to  be  concealed  from  them  by  a 
part,  and  to  mistake  the  lesser  for  the  greater. 

We  are  often  led  to  think  that  what  is  obvi- 
ous is  necessarily  real  by  reason  of  that  fact,  or 
that  what  is  most  apparent  is  most  important. 
Quite  the  opposite  is  usually  true.  In  politics  a 
favorite  "dodge"  of  the  wily  ones  is  to  cloud  the 
real  issues  of  a  campaign  by  engaging  public 
attention  with  the  non-essentials.  In  forms  of  re- 
ligion this  is  equally  true.  The  great  Christian 
religion  is  the  best  example  possible.  With  its 
real  issues  there  has  never  been  any  quarrel. 
Christian  and  pagan  alike  have  been  pretty  well 
agreed  upon  the  wisdom  of  these  for  many 
hundreds  of  years,  and  other  men  for  thousands 
of  years  before  they  were  given  their  present  des- 
ignation. The  great  mission  of  the  Nazarene  was 
not  to  present  a  new  religion  to  the  world,  but  to 
quicken  to  life  the  Spirit  of  the  one  eternal  re- 
ligion. The  many  doctrinal  points  upon  which 
theologians  differ,  and  which  divide  the  Chris- 

-73— 


tian  world,  were  never  taught  by  the  gentle  Man 
of  Nazareth.  The  principles  of  brotherhood, 
mercy,  humility,  charity  and  temperance;  these 
are  some  of  the  things  He  emphasized;  and  of 
these  not  enough  has  yet  been  said  to  arouse  any- 
one's antagonism. 

It  is  being  stated  very  often  nowadays  that 
Christianity  has  failed;  but  it  cannot  have  failed 
for  it  has  never  been  given  a  real  trial.  Its 
teachings  have  fallen  on  deaf  ears.  If  anything 
connected  with  religion  has  failed,  it  is  theology; 
and  even  theology  is  not  a  total  failure  if  it  has 
served  to  demonstrate  its  own  fallacy.  Good- 
ness, love,  truth,  wisdom;  these  have  never  failed 
and  never  can  fail.  Our  concept  of  them  will 
undergo  changes,  it  is  to  be  hoped.  Our  defini- 
tion and  understanding  of  them  will  be  altered, — 
but  on  the  side  of  inclusion,  not  exclusion.  It  is 
in  inclusion  that  forms  of  religion  find  their  great- 
est strength,  and  in  their  affirmations  that  they 
are  the  nearest  to  truth.  It  is  in  exclusion  and 
denial  that  their  weakness  lies. 

Two  men  who  were  enemies  once  set  out  to 
reach  a  King  whose  home  was  in  the  heavens. 
Seeking  a  way  to  reach  the  abode  of  their  Mas- 
ter, yet  hating  each  other,  one  went  East  and  the 
other  went  West,  ever  choosing  the  highlands, 
which  would  bring  them  nearer  the  One  they 
sought.  Their  travels  were  long  and  arduous,  and 
toiling  alone  their  upward  way,  both  arrived  at 
last  near  the  foot  of  a  great  mountain  peak,  whose 
summit,  gleaming  in  the  sunlight,  towered  far 
up  into  the  clouds.  "Surely  I  shall  be  at  the 


very  gates  of  the  King's  golden  palace  when  I 
reach  the  top  of  this  mountain,"  each  one  thought; 
and  renewed  in  spirit  by  the  idea  they  started  up 
the  steep  slope  from  opposite  sides.  And  as  they 
mounted  higher,  and  approached  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  attainment  of  their  desire,  they  came 
nearer  to  each  other,  though  they  knew  it  not. 

Each  day  found  them  toiling  upward.  As  they 
climbed  their  horizon  broadened  and  they  could 
see  more  and  more  of  the  wonderful  world  in 
which  they  strove  to  find  their  king.  Their  thoughts 
broadened,  too,  as  their  ascending  paths  con- 
verged. In  an  ecstacy  of  anticipation  they  ap- 
proached the  summit.  With  heads  upraised  and 
arms  outstretched  they  reached  the  very  highest 
point  on  the  whole  great,  wonderful  earth.  Lost 
in  thought  to  all  but  the  object  of  their  journey, 
they  scanned  the  heavens  above.  The  bright 
sunlight  streamed  down  upon  them.  The  vast 
dome  of  heaven's  blue  reached  overhead.  A  bird 
winged  the  gleaming  air.  No  golden  palace 
faced  their  eager  sight;  no  smiling  Monarch  said, 
"Well  done."  They  sank  to  earth  in  prayer, 
with  sadly  downcast  eyes,  and  as  they  rose  again 
their  search  was  ended  and  their  prayers  were 
heard.  The  King  they  sought  for  stood  revealed, 
— within  each  other. 

There  is  no  wrong  in  seeking  God  in  one's 
own  way;  no  wrong  in  being  one's  self;  and  en- 
couraging the  Divine  Urge  which  insists  upon  ex- 
pression of  the  God-within.  There  is  no  wrong 
in  acclaiming  the  viewpoint  of  truth  our  own 
soul's  growth  affords  us.  The  wrong,  if  wrong 

—75— 


there  be,  consists  in  failing  to  realize  that  truth 
may  be  seen  from  other  angles  than  our  own,  and 
that,  though  variously  seen,  it  is  itself  the  same. 
The  principle  is  absolute,  all-inclusive;  it  is  our 
human  understanding  of  it  that  varies,  and  which 
must  ever  vary  if  we  are  to  be  progressive,  for- 
ward-looking individuals.  It  is  not  the  principle 
which  lacks  if  in  it  we  find  no  place  for  some  of 
God's  humanity:  rather  is  the  lack  ours,  in  that 
we  cannot  see  the  place  which  each  one  fills. 

" There  is  no  religion  higher  than  truth,"  and 
in  so  far  as  religion  is  true  to  its  name,  it  must 
be  based  like  truth  itself,  upon  inclusion. 

"Let  there  be  many  windows  to  your  soul 

That  all  the  glory  of  the  universe 

May  beautify  it.     Not  the  narrow  pane 

Of  one  poor  creed  can  catch  the  radiant  rays 

That  shine  from  countless  sources.      Tear   away 

The  blinds  of  superstition;  let  the  light 

Pour  through  fair  windows  broad  as  Truth  itself 

And  high  as  God." 

— Ella   Wheeler  Wilcox. 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"Truth  is  within  ourselves;  it  takes  no  rise 
From  outward  things,  whatever  you  may  believe. 
There  is  an  inmost  center  in  us  all, 
Where  Truth  abides  in  fullness;  and  around 
Wall  upon  wall  the  gross  flesh  hems  in  it, 
This  perfect  clear  perception — which  is  Truth!" 

— Robert   Browning. 

**That  mind  which  loves  truth  more  than  any 
other  thing,  is  clothed  in  the  armor  of  heaven;  and 
that  mind  which  comprehends  truth  is  intimately 
allied  to  God,  being  well-nigh  omnipotent.  It  is 
by  the  process  of  spiritual  analysis  that  truth  is 
obtained.*' 

— Andrew    Jackson    Davis. 

"The  exclusionist  in  religion  does  not  see  that 
he  shuts  the  door  of  heaven  on  himself,  in  striving 
to  shut  out  others." 

— Ralph    Waldo    Emerson. 


—77  — 


XL     THE  UTILITY  OF  WISDOM. 

"There  are  many  Paths,  but  one  Door  (Wis- 
dom)." 

BLL   PROGRESS   consists  in   knowing  the 
Law   and   living     the    Life.     Neither    the 
one   nor    the    other  is    sufficient    of    itself. 
Good   people    are   no*:   always   wise   people;    and 
there  are  many  who  know  the  Law  who  do  not 
live  it.     True  wisdom  is  pragmatic,  and  but  half 
expresses  itself  in  knowledge.      Its  destiny  is  ful- 
filled only  when  knowledge  is   acted   upon,    and 
that  which  has  existed  generally  as  a  fact  begins 
to  function  specifically  as  a  life. 

As  all  of  the  efforts  of  life  lead,  ultimately,  to 
the  fulfilment  of  one  Purpose,  so  do  all  the  paths 
of  life  lead  to  one  Door,  which  is  Wisdom.  All 
life,  all  circumstance,  all  conditions  conspire  to 
the  achievement  of  one  object, — the  expression  in 
consciousness  of  that  which  is  possessed  in  poten- 
tiality,— and  knowingly  or  ignorantly  all  humanity 
is  striving  to  attain  that  object.  The  time  required 
and  the  degree  of  success  achieved  are  propor- 
tionate to  our  knowledge  of  the  laws  which  deter- 
mine such  attainment,  and  our  co-operation  with 
them.  Unless  we  know  the  object  of  our  striving, 
and  the  way  or  ways  in  which  it  can  be  attained, 
our  progress  is  apt  to  be  slow  and  difficult.  It  is 
like  searching  for  someone  whose  whereabouts  are 
unknown  to  us.  We  do  not  know  where  to  seek 
first  or  how  to  reach  the  location  we  have  decided 
upon  as  most  probable.  Moreover,  if  we  know 
only  the  external  facts  of  the  case  one  possibility 

—78- 


is  quite  as  uncertain  as  every  other.  We  think  of 
the  thousands  of  cities  of  the  world,  the  many 
ways  of  reaching  them,  and  the  thousands  of 
people  in  every  community.  The  task  before  us 
is  almost  futile,  and  practically  an  endless  one, — 
unless  we  "accidentally"  hit  upon  some  clue  which 
narrows  the  search.  So  it  is  with  humanity.  We 
are  seeking  something,  often  without  even  knowing 
what  or  where  it  is.  A  myriad  possibilities  are 
before  us.  Reasoning  from  effects  our  search  is 
fraught  with  innumerable  difficulties.  Knowing 
neither  direction  nor  goal  our  plight  is  indeed  a 
sorry  one.  And  because  we  have  sought  so 
blindly,  we  have  also  had  to  seek  very  long;  and 
the  paths  of  attainment  have  grown  to  be  numerous 
indeed.  But  as  in  seeking  someone  in  the  outer 
world  there  are  always  ways  by  which  we  may 
narrow  the  search,  there  are  means  by  which 
both  object  and  attainment  may  be  approached  in 
consciousness.  Reasoning  from  effects  alone  in 
either  case  is  the  slow,  laborious  process  of  the 
ignorant  one  who  must  beat  against  the  closed 
door  until  he  has  futilely  bruised  himself  against 
it,  before  he  will  consent  to  think,  to  realize  that 
there  must  be  a  better  way,  and  ultimately,  placing 
his  hand  upon  the  latch,  lift  it  and  enter.  For 
many  long  years  man  stood  on  the  shores  of  the 
world's  great  continents,  and  viewed  with  dismay 
the  great  liquid  barrier  which  separated  him  from 
the  rest  of  the  earth;  until  at  length  he  began  to 
think, — to  delve  beneath  the  fact  of  separation  to 
the  principle  which  the  fact  evidenced.  Then  he 
began  to  learn  the  law;  he  applied  it,  and  built 

—79— 


ships.  The  sea  is  no  longer  a  barrier  but  a  thor- 
oughfare, which  unites  rather  than  separates  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  earth. 

No  man  has  ever  been  so  completely  lost  as  to 
leave  no  clue  to  his  whereabouts;  if  he  has  not 
been  found  it  is  because  the  principle  underlying 
the  facts  has  not  been  discovered  and  applied;  nor 
are  human  destiny  and  its  attainment  more  mysteri- 
ous. There  are  definite,  unmistakable  indications 
of  the  truth  about  life,  so  evident  ofttimes  that  their 
import  is  lost  by  their  very  obviousness.  Believing 
truth  to  be  obscure,  feeling  that  Nature  conspires 
to  hide  rather  than  reveal  her  secrets,  we  often  fail 
to  be  helped  where  we  might. 

Wisdom  does  not  consist  in  seeking  always  to 
change  our  circumstances,  but  more  often  in 
mak'mg  use  of  them.  Resignation  is  less  practical 
a  virtue  than  adaptation.  The  wise  man  knows 
that  accord  with  the  Divine  Will  is  the  true 
secret  of  spiritual  progress,  but  he  does  not  assume 
as  a  sequence  that  that  Will  is  contrary  to  his 
material  welfare.  A  half-wise  man,  walking  a 
road  and  seeing  an  auto  approach,  would  possibly 
accept  the  situation  as  the  Will  of  God  and  allow 
himself  to  be  run  over,  or  at  most  get  out  of 
harm's  way.  The  truly  wise  man  would  be  more 
likely  to  make  use  of  the  situation  by  hailing  the 
driver  and  getting  a  ride. 

The  Divine  Will  is  always  kind  and  loving; 
our  ignorance  makes  it  seem  harsh.  Fire  will 
burn  the  fingers  of  an  innocent  babe  as  readily  or 
a  little  more  so,  than  those  of  a  hardened  criminal ; 
but  if  the  infant  felt  no  pain  it  might  allow  its 

-80- 


whole  body  to  be  consumed ;  and  the  fire  that  sears 
our  flesh,  will  also  consume  the  trash  we  do  not 
want,  and  will  give  us  warmth  and  food  as  well. 

The  Law  is  constant  and  kind.  It  is  we  who 
change  and  are  caustic.  We  are,  moreover,  pro- 
tected against  ourselves.  Our  very  ignorance  of 
many  of  our  possibilities  prevents  us  from  their 
extravagant  abuse.  The  man  who  does  not  know 
the  true  value  of  money,  cannot  misuse  it  to  any 
great  extent,  because  he  cannot  retain  possession 
of  it.  Before  we  can  too  greatly  abuse  our  bodies 
or  our  minds,  Nature  calls  a  halt  by  making  us 
ill,  so  that  even  our  misfortunes  and  our  troubles 
are  unappreciated  blessings  which  save  us  from  our- 
selves; and  always  and  ever  there  is  the  oppor- 
tunity of  learning  some  needed  lesson  through  every 
experience  we  attract  in  life. 

If  there  is  any  room  for  regret  m  life  it  should 
not  be  for  the  experiences  which  beset  our  paths, 
but  for  our  failure  to  appreciate  and  benefit  by 
them.  Our  sorrow  should  not  be  that  we  must 
learn  lessons  but  that  we  do  not.  No  lesson  is 
ever  so  thoroughly  learned  as  through  experience, 
and  doubtless  at  some  time  or  another  in  our  soul 
growth  we  undergo  all  experiences.  If  then,  an 
experience  we  do  not  like  comes  into  our  life,  the 
very  fact  that  we  can  see  no  good  in  it  indicates 
that  we  need  it,  and  have  yet  to  learn  its  lesson. 
Far  better,  then,  to  learn  it  at  once,  instead  of 
trying  to  avoid  or  evade  it.  Any  philosophy  of 
life  which  promises  to  ward  off  the  disagreeable 
experiences  of  life  (even  if  the  promise  could  be 
fulfilled,  which  it  cannot)  would  be  a  most  decided 

—81— 


detriment  to  human  progress.  The  wisest  man 
literature  offers  us,  spoke  no  other  prayer  than  this, 
"Give  thy  servant  an  understanding  heart." 
Therein  is  the  essence  of  wisdom,  the  door  to 
which  all  paths  lead. 

The  most  any  philosophy  of  life  can  do  is  to 
help  the  student  in  understanding  the  circumstances 
of  his  life.  There  are  many  which  claim  to  do 
more  and  for  a  time  their  claims  may  seem  to  be 
authorized;  but  their  method  is  at  most  an  evasion 
whose  advantage  is  more  apparent  than  real.  The 
circumstances  of  our  lives  do  not  come  to  us  by 
chance,  but  by  Law.  Compliance  with,  or  satis- 
faction of  the  Law  is  the  only  safe  method  of  dis- 
pelling them.  Remove  their  cause  and  they  will 
disappear  of  themselves.  Seek  to  remove  them 
otherwise  and  you  but  delay  them.  Unsolved  prob- 
lems and  unrequited  Law  construct  a  barrier 
about  their  "victim"  which  will  in  time  become  so 
high  as  to  fall  in  a  crash.  Physical  breakdowns, 
financial  failures,  nervous  exhaustion  and  brain  fag 
are  some  of  the  names  humanity  gives  to  the  bar- 
riers it  has  been  piling  up;  and  all  are  based  upon 
a  false  system  of  philosophy  which  mistakenly  sup- 
poses that  there  are  exceptions  to  the  rule  of  Law. 
God's  Law  is  loving  but  also  wise;  merciful  but 
just,  gentle  but  unswerving  in  its  operation. 
"Law  eternal  reigns  supreme, 

Running  through  the  universe. 

From  the  atom  to  the  sphere, 

Worlds  in  space,  and  details  here, 

Perfect  order  holdeth  sway, 

Moving  on  in  tuneful  theme." — John   Willis  Ring. 

-  82— 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"Happy  is  the  man  that  findeth  wisdom, 
And  the  man  that  draweth  forth  understanding. 
For  the  gaining  of  it  is  better  than  the  gaining 

of  silver, 
And  the  profit  thereof  than  fine  gold." 

—Pro.  3:13-14. 

"Wisdom  is  of  the  soul,  is  not  susceptible  of 
proof,  is  its  own  proof.  Something  there  is  in  the 
float  of  the  sight  of  things  that  provokes  it  out  of 
the  soul." 

—Walt    Whitman. 

'There  is  a  certain  wisdom  of  humanity  which 
is  common  to  the  greatest  men  with  the  lowest, 
and  which  our  ordinary  education  often  labors  to 
silence  and  obstruct.  We  denote  this  primary 
wisdom  as  Intuition,  whilst  all  later  teachings  are 
tuitions." 

— Ralph   Waldo  Emerson. 

"The  fall  of  a  leaf  through  the  air,  and  the 
greeting  of  one  that  passes  on  the  road  shall  be 
more  to  you  than  the  wisdom  of  all  the  books  ever 
written — and  of  this  book." 

— Edward   Carpenter. 


XII.   THE  GREATEST  GIFT 

"There    are    many    Manifestations,    but    one 
Spirit  (Love)." 


Y?^vOW  far  from  simplicity  the  world  has 
I  strayed  in  its  search  for  truth  is  indicated 
""""*  in  the  vast  number  of  books  which  have 
been  written  on  the  subject.  It  would  seem  that 
if  truth  can  be  described  as  simple  there  is  no  real 
need  for  the  prolific  literature  that  demand  has 
given  rise  to.  In  a  sense  this  is  true.  It  is  possi- 
ble for  man  to  evolve  from  within  himself  an  an- 
swer to  every  question  which  books  can  reply  to. 
Nature  herself  is  a  book  which  all  men  would 
profit  by  reading.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  printed 
page  can  imbue  its  reader  with  the  same  spirit  ot 
joyous  discovery  which  is  felt  by  the  student  who 
reads  his  lessons  from  the  broad  page  of  hillside 
and  valley.  Yet  not  all  men  hare  the  confidence 
or  the  wisdom  to  seek  within  for  knowledge.  Long 
outward  seeking,  and  dependence  upon  external 
sources  of  information  have  dulled  the  spiritual 
senses  which  convey  the  message  from  interior 
powers.  Lives  which  swing  in  the  narrow  orbit  of 
a  workaday  world  do  not  always  respond  to  the 
lauguage  of  Nature  quickly.  So  books  have  their 
place;  not  to  usurp  the  function  of  inward  light 
and  power,  but  to  guide  man  back  to  these.  Their 
mission  is  that  of  the  teacher;  not  to  impart  knowl- 
edge, but  to  awaken  it.  There  is  but  one  author- 
itative Teacher;  the  spirit  of  Love  within  the 
human  soul;  but  all  ears  are  not  attuned  to  its 
still,  small  voice;  and  all  eyes  cannot  respond  to 


its  inner  light;  so  there  is  need  for  teachers  to 
point  the  way. 

Truth  is  simple;  wisdom  does  not  demand  the 
conning  over  of  vast  libraries;  love  is  the  intuitive 
emotion  of  the  human  heart.  Still  not  all  men 
know  truth,  nor  are  they  wise,  nor  loving;  for  hu- 
man energies  have  been  so  long  engaged  with  ef- 
fects, which  are  complex;  with  external  sources  of 
information,  which  are  partial  and  innumerable; 
and  with  reason  to  the  detriment  of  more  subtle 
guides  to  understanding,  that  the  Source  in  which 
all  these  are  centered  has  been  lost  sight  of. 

It  requires  much  greater  skill  to  convince  man 
of  something  simple  than  that  which  is  complex; 
he  will  go  to  great  lengths  to  acquire  from  others 
what  may  be  much  inferior  to  his  own  possessions; 
for  all  his  recent  development  has  given  emphasis 
to  the  eternal  world  and  the  things  which  comprise 
it.  Of  the  interior  world  and  its  wonders  he 
knows  comparatively  little.  Of  the  rich  legacy 
within  his  own  being  he  is  but  dimly  aware.  The 
mission  of  the  Christ  was  no  other  than  this:  to 
point  men  to  the  indwelling  Presence  of  the  Spirit 
of  Love  within  themselves.  "God  is  love.  Seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  which  is  within  you. 
Love  one  another."  Such  was  the  essence  of  His 
message,  spoken  so  simply  and  beautifully  and  truly, 
that  the  greatest  of  all  writers  and  orators  since  then 
could  do  no  more  than  quote  Him.  Paul's  great- 
est utterances  were  variations  of  this  theme.  The 
illuminati  of  all  ages  have  been  stirred  by  the  sublim- 
ity of  God's  greatest  gift.  All  things  partake  alike 


of  the  Divine  Essence;  all  give  the  evidence  of  "that 
one  and  the  self-same  Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man 
severally  as  he  will." 

Love  is  the  animating  principle  of  the  universe. 
From  the  lowliest  forms  of  life  to  the  highest  all 
things  are  stirred  by  this  principle.  It  manifests 
variously  according  to  the  channel  through  which  its 
life-bearing  substance  flows;  yet  in  Spirit  it  is  ever 
the  same.  It  is  called  chemical  affinity,  the  creat- 
ive instinct,  passion,  affection,  attraction  and  a  hun- 
dred other  names,  to  indicate  the  particular  manner 
in  which  its  power  expresses.  It  may  denote  the 
highest  and  holiest  spiritual  affection,  or  the  meanest, 
most  selfish  impulse;  yet  love  itself  is  invariable  and 
always  greater  than  anything  through  which  it  finds 
vent. 

Love  is  impersonal  in  principle.  It  includes  all 
things  yet  transcends  them.  Only  in  its  most  rudi- 
mental  expression  is  it  personal.  As  man  approaches 
in  expression  the  divinity  of  that  which  he  repre- 
sents, the  animating  principle  of  his  existence,  Love, 
is  given  increasingly  harmonious  manifestation  in  his 
life.  That  which  is  selfish  or  personal  or  sensual 
in  his  interpretation  of  it  gives  way  and  is  replaced 
by  an  inclusive,  spiritual  fraternity  which  is  the 
evidence  of  his  own  soul  growth. 

Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  Law.  It  is  the 
greatest  positive  force  in  the  universe;  the  direct  ex- 
pression of  the  Great  Positive  Mind.  Whoso  would 
understand  himself  and  his  Source,  let  him  seek  to 
understand  Love.  In  no  other  way  does  humanity 
more  surely  reveal  the  degree  of  its  spiritual  de- 

-86- 


velopment  than  in  its  conception  and  exemplifica- 
tion of  the  Love  Principle. 

Love  is  the  light  that  "lighteth  every  man  that 
cometh  into  the  world."  It  manifests  in  everything 
that  lives,  but  in  proportion  to  the  development  of 
that  through  which  it  expresses.  From  the  most 
primitive  conception  of  life's  purpose  which  mani- 
fests in  self-preservation,  to  the  most  exalted  ideal 
of  an  impersonal  union  with  all  life,  this  Love  Prin- 
ciple is  the  vivifying  force,  the  animating  essence. 
Therefore,  while  it  is  one  in  principle,  its  appear- 
ance in  the  world  of  form  is  extremely  varied.  An- 
drew Jackson  Davis,  founder  of  the  Harmonial 
Philosophy,  classifies  the  expression  of  this  Principle 
under  six  elements  of  existence,  which,  from  the  least 
expressive  to  the  most  inclusive,  he  terms  self-love, 
conjugal  love,  parental  love,  fraternal  love,  filial 
love  and  universal  love.  Within  the  meaning  of 
these  terms  are  defined  all  phases  of  this  essence, 
and  they  represent  the  successive  steps  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  soul  as  it  gradually  evolves  the  perfect 
involved  idea  it  represents. 

All  natural  Law  is  executed  in  Love,  for  God  is 
Love.  What  we  term  the  lower  forms  of  life  are 
much  more  true  to  this  Law  of  Love  than  we  are. 
Their  conception  of  it  may  be  more  limited  than 
ours,  but  they  are  invariably  true  to  the  under- 
standing of  it  which  they  have.  The  love  of  ani- 
mals for  their  young,  and  for  the  human  masters 
who  ofttimes  so  little  merit  it,  is  not  exceeded  in  the 
human  family.  Whoever  has  witnessed  the  an- 
guish pf  a  little  furred  or  feathered  mother  when 


—87- 


some  danger  threatens  her  young,  cannot  doubt  that 
her  suffering  is  as  intense  as  that  of  a  human  mother, 
even  though  less  enduring.  Love's  benediction  seems 
to  rest  on  all  God's  creatures,  but  we  human  be- 
ings alone  appear  to  violate  its  Law,  and  give  vent 
to  hatred.  The  "lower"  forms  of  life  know  only 
the  positive  aspect  of  the  Law  of  their  being;  but 
humanity  has  been  entrusted  with  the  knowledge  of 
not  only  the  good,  but  the  evil  as  well;  and  he  is 
always  confronted  with  the  possibility  of  choice. 
How  great  is  human  responsibility  in  proving  worthy 
of  that  trust.  To  man  it  has  been  given  to  have  a 
share  in  the  glorious  plan  of  creation,  to  be  the  con- 
scious co-operator  with  the  Creator  in  evolving  His 
Divine  Plan. 

In  the  light  of  this  knowledge  man  stands  trans- 
formed. Once  the  full  realization  of  this  truth  has 
been  aroused  in  consciousness,  man  can  never  more 
allow  himself  the  belief  that  anything  in  the  uni- 
verse opposes  or  seeks  to  thwart  his  good,  for  "all 
things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love 
God."  The  universal  Law  of  Life  is  Love,  and  it 
manifests  eternally  in  goodness.  Firmly  based  in 
such  a  consciousness,  the  student  is  made  strong  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  ineffable  beneficence  of  all 
things.  Circumstance,  environment,  associates,  ex- 
perience; all  are  tranformed  and  glorified.  No 
longer  is  it  possible  to  conceive  himself  the  victim 
of  Law;  rather  is  he  the  recipient  of  all  blessings. 
All  things  have  been  created  to  his  use,  that  by  co- 
operation with  their  purpose  he  may  further  the 
Divine  Purpose.  In  Love  are  all  things  given  life ; 


only  by  reason  of  Love  do  they  exist;  apart  from 
it  they  cannot  endure.  Blessed  indeed  is  the  man 
who  possesses  this  knowledge,  and  works  in  accord 
with  it;  for  he  sees  beyond  the  appearance  of  life's 
negations  to  the  Divine  Reality  of  At-one-ment 
with  his  Source,  which  is  the  Spirit  of  Love.  In 
Truth  he  is  made  free  from  temporal  limitations, 
in  Wisdom  he  knows  the  Law,  and  in  Love  he 
works  the  Divine  Will. 


THEMES  FOR  MEDITATION 

"Love  suffereth  long  and  is  kind;  love  envieth 
not;  love  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up,  doth 
not  behave  itself  unseemly,  seeketh  not  its  own,  is 
not  provoked,  taketh  not  account  of  evil;  rejoiceth 
not  in  unrighteousness,  but  rejoiceth  with  the  truth; 
beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all 
things,  endureth  all  things.  Love  never  faileth." 

— /.  Cor.  73:4-8. 

"Man's  highest  feeling  is  universal  Love, — that 
is,  the  love  of  a  God  of  love." 

— Andrew    Jackson    Davis. 

"Send  me  the  love  that  would  soak  down  into 
the  center  of  being,  and  from  there  would  spread 
like  the  unseen  sap  through  the  branching  tree 
of  life,  giving  birth  to  fruit  and  flower." 

— Rabindranaih    Tagorc. 

"Love  is  ever  the  beginning  of  knowledge  as 
fire  is  of  light." 

— Thomas  Carlyle. 


XIII.   HARMONIAL  LIVING 

'  'Harmonial  Living9  means  the  progressive  real- 
ization of  the  inherent  divinity  of  the  individual,  and 
the  manifestaton,  by  co-ordination  of  his  faculties, 
of  the  perfect  idea  awaiting  unfoldment." 

AN  STANDS  at  the  middle  point  of  crea- 
tion. Below  him  stretches  the  vast  infinitude 
of  Nature;  above  him  the  vast  infinitude  of 
God.  He  is  at  once  the  focalization  of  both;  an 
ultimate  and  a  prophecy.  He  is  like  the  narrowest 
point  between  the  bowls  of  an  hour  glass;  like  the 
tiny  grains  of  sand  flowing  between  two  great  reser- 
voirs of  being.  One  of  these  we  call  Nature,  of 
which  he  is  the  apex;  the  other  we  call  God,  of 
which  he  is  the  expression  in  fine;  and  the  terms 
we  use  to  express  Nature  and  God  are  as  flexible 
and  as  easily  transferred  as  are  the  terms  "above" 
and  "below"  when  we  apply  them  to  the  reversible 
hour  glass.  God  and  Nature,  good  and  bad,  high 
and  low,  are  expressions  whose  meaning  changes 
with  every  passing  hour.  They  are  a  tyranny  of 
words,  in  which  man's  reason  is  firmly  enmeshed; 
and  only  when  at  last  he  can  extricate  himself  will 
he  discover  their  falsity  and  evanescence. 

Between  these  extremes,  these  dualities,  man  al- 
ways finds  himself  the  central  point,  the  center  of 
their  apparent  contention,  the  axis  on  which  the 
whole  system  of  contradictions  swings.  As  in  the 
hour  glass,  which,  turn  it  as  you  will,  always  main- 
tains the  relation  of  its  parts,  so  in  the  sphere  of 
man's  existence  he  always  remains  at  the  central 
point. 

-91— 


He  rides  the  hub  of  a  wheel,  whose  spokes  and 
rim  surround  him;  and  looking  first  to  one  side  and 
then  the  other,  he  bisects  it  in  his  thought,  labeling 
the  two  halves  high  and  low,  or  top  and  bottom, 
good  and  bad.  But  the  wheel  turns:  what  was  high 
becomes  low,  and  the  lowest  mounts  to  the  highest. 
Revolving  with  the  wheel  he  rides,  he  is  unconscious 
of  the  motion,  unmindful  of  the  change,  ignorant  of 
the  fallacy  he  allows  himself.  He  turns  to  verify 
his  reasoning,  but  the  wheel  turns  with  him,  and  the 
error  checks  itself.  So  while  cold  reason  sways  his 
intellect  he  cannot  be  persuaded  otherwise  than  that 
his  senses  serve  him  perfectly.  Self-centered  upon 
his  wheel  of  life,  he  rides  complacently  unaware  of 
the  truth  about  him, — the  truth  of  which  he  him- 
self is  the  center  and  the  greatest  evidence. 

From  the  center  of  the  wheel  he  cannot  see  the 
rim,  nor  know  that  all  the  spokes  merge  into  it; 
he  cannot  see  or  be  conscious  of  the  movement  of 
which  he  is  a  part.  To  left  and  right  he  turns, 
always  seeing  the  same  apparent  contention.  And 
just  so  long  as  he  remains  thus  riding  on  the  hub 
his  vision  is  limited,  his  conceptions  confined  to  the 
plane  in  which  he  lives,  moves,  and  has  his  being. 

Sometime,  however,  there  comes  a  point  in  de- 
velopment when  the  soul  seeks  a  wider  view;  when 
a  vague  and  glorious  discontent  with  limitation  de- 
mands a  larger  scope  of  action;  for  there  is  that 
within  him  which  is  even  greater  than  the  wheel 
on  which  he  rides, — a  power  akin  to  and  a  part  of 
that  Power  which  made  the  wheel  possible.  That 
Power  it  is  which  comes  to  his  assistance  and  re- 
veals the  wholeness  of  what  seemed  to  be  small 

--92- 


parts.  Then,  in  obedience  to  the  Law  of  Progres- 
sion, the  power  within  seeks  for  expression,  and  by 
its  expansion  lifts  mankind  above  the  plane  of  the 
senses,  above  the  sway  of  opposites.  Man  then 
looks  upon  his  hub  and  spokes  and  wheel  from  the 
advantage  of  another  dimension  of  space,  the  im- 
personal plane  of  thought,  and  then  for  the  first 
time  he  beholds  the  grand  unity,  the  majestic  move- 
ment of  the  Whole.  He  discovers  by  what  method 
the  spokes  are  centered  in  the  hub  on  which  he 
rides;  his  vision  follows  their  course  outwardlv  on 
all  sides,  and  he  finds  them  to  be  joined  back  to 
unity  in  the  rim.  The  symmetry,  the  unity,  the 
harmony  of  the  Whole,  are  impressed  upon  that 
power  within  him  to  which  it  is  akin.  So  it  is, 
that  no  matter  what  may  thereafter  befall  him,  nor 
what  apparent  limitations  may  hedge  him  about, 
he  is  not  deceived.  Serenely  once  more  he  rides 
his  hub  of  material  existence.  He  watches,  as  they 
vanish  into  the  oblivion  of  nothingness,  the  spokes 
which  extend  outwardly  on  all  sides  away  from  him. 
His  soul  tells  him  what  his  human  reason  cannot, 
that  though  they  seem  to  get  farther  and  farther 
away  from  each  other,  they  really  become  one  at 
their  extremity  as  he  knows  them  to  be  in  their 
source.  Though  no  mental  glimpse  of  their  pur- 
pose is  vouchsafed  to  his  mind,  the  spiritual  vision 
has  been  his,  and  he  knows  that  what  in  spirit  he 
has  conceived,  he  can  ultimately  comprehend  in 
mind. 

To  be  thus  conscious  of  the  dualities,  the  oppo- 
sites,  the  contradictions  of  material  life,  and  yet  re- 
main poised  in  an  understanding  of  their  temporal- 

—93— 


ity,  and  what  is  in  a  sense  their  unreality;  to  recog- 
nize the  limitations  of  human  reasoning  and  under- 
standing without  being  bound  by  those  limitations; 
to  be  neither  scornful  of  human  relations  to  the 
humble  forms  of  life  through  which  Spirit  has 
evolved,  nor  unmindful  of  a  similar  kinship  to  the 
Highest  toward  which  progression  leads;  to  seek 
the  solution  of  all  problems  through  an  awakening 
of  the  God-power  within  the  individual,  and  yet  con- 
form the  particular  good  to  that  which  is  universal ; 
to  distinguish  between  Service  and  servitude,  be- 
tween liberty  and  license;  to  be  neither  so  absorbed 
in  material  pursuits  as  to  forget  culture,  refinement 
and  spirituality,  nor  so  involved  in  the  development 
of  mental  and  spiritual  possibilities  as  to  neglect  the 
just  use  and  development  of  material  good;  to 
strike  a  balance  between  self-neglect  and  selfish- 
ness,— to  live,  in  short,  in  the  knowledge  that  all 
extremes  meet,  and  that  all  dualities  are  based  in 
oneness;  this  is  to  live  the  Harmonial  Life. 

No  growth  or  development  is  truly  harmonial 
which  neglects  or  denies  the  constructive  expression 
of  any  phase  of  human  possibilities.  No  impulse 
or  emotion  or  desire  of  man  is  evil  when  its  principle 
is  discovered  and  action  harmonized  therewith. 
What  he  denies  or  ignores  in  life  reveals  the  limit 
of  his  development  in  that  regard.  The  "Thou 
Shalt  Not's"  of  the  moral  code  prove  that  the  un- 
derlying principle  of  harmonial  development,  which 
is  Use,  has  not  yet  been  learned.  Use  brings  all 
impulses,  emotions  and  desires  into  accord  with  Di- 
vine Law.  It  is  the  abuse  of  these  things  which 
is  the  source  of  evil.  Use  is  the  golden  means  be- 

...94... 


tween  the  extremes  of  denial  and  excess.  If  there 
be  a  single  element  or  condition  in  life,  or  a  thought 
in  the  human  mind,  which  man  feels  is  wrong  or 
evil,  or  to  which  he  feels  impelled  to  close  the  por- 
tals of  his  thought,  it  is  because  he  has  not  yet 
evolved  within  his  own  soul  an  understanding  of  the 
use  of  that  thing.  Then  let  him  close  his  thoughts, 
— not  to  the  thing  or  condition  he  deplores, — but  to 
the  belief  in  its  evilness.  Poised  in  thought,  let  him 
look  not  to  the  fact  but  to  the  principle.  If  men 
misapply  a  principle,  no  evil  devolves  upon  that 
which  he  misuses.  It  is  still  susceptible  of  use,  and 
may  then  be  seen  rightly.  Evil  or  misuse  is  only 
one-half  of  the  action  of  the  law.  The  other  half 
is  the  adjustment  of  the  evil  to  goodness,  or  the 
misuse  to  use.  The  adjustment  may  not  at  once 
appear,  but  it  will  appear,  and  in  the  process  every- 
thing involved  will  have  added  in  some  degree  to 
its  growth.  Every  thought  conspires  to  further  in- 
dividual progress  in  some  degree,  if  in  no  other  way 
than  to  reveal  its  own  fallacy. 

The  harmonial  thinker  ceases  either  condemning 
or  condoning  the  circumstances  of  life,  simply  rec- 
ognizing them  as  the  working  out  of  a  principle.  If 
the  same  problems  do  not  confront  all  men,  know 
that  at  some  time  they  have  or  will.  Nothing  can 
violate  the  law  of  goodness.  There  are  many  ap- 
pearances of  such  violation,  but  they  are  only  seem- 
ing. Beneath  the  appearance  is  the  eternal  verity 
to  which  all  things  conform,  and  within  its  action 
all  things  work  together  for  good. 

Thus  the  question  of  good  and  evil  is  abrogated 


by  the  consciousness  that  God's  Law  n>or£s/  Every 
thought,  word  and  deed  pronounces  judgment  upon 
itself,  and  executes  its  own  reward  or  punishment. 
To  the  exemplar  of  the  Harmonial  Life,  circum- 
stance is  transformed.  He  sees  neither  high  nor 
low,  but  only  Oneness.  No  good  nor  ill  confuses 
him,  for  he  knows  that  all  effects  find  a  common 
Cause  in  God.  The  laws  of  man  and  those  of 
God  express  to  him  one  principle,  Cause  and  Ef- 
fect. The  many  differences  of  attainment,  the  in- 
equalities of  existence,  all  point  to  imperative  prog- 
ress. The  miracles  of  the  unknown  past  and  the 
vaguely  seen  hereafter  declare  themselves  to  be  one 
world, — of  Service.  No  difference  of  caste  or  race 
deceives  him,  for  all  are  parts  of  one  great  Brother- 
hood, clinging  as  best  they  know,  to  the  wheel  of 
life, — Humanity.  Theories,  movements,  philoso- 
phies, all  seeking  to  explain  the  Mysteries,  merge 
into  one  Ideal  which  gives  to  each  its  place  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  universal  law  of  Justice.  He 
views  with  equanimity  the  opposites  which  chal- 
lenge his  reason,  knowing  that  somewhere  in  the 
great  circle  of  God's  life  in  which  all  are  safely 
held,  they  become  parts  to  the  one  reality  in  the 
world  of  form, — At-one-ment.  Below  him  stretch 
the  kingdoms  of  earth;  the  mineral  world  of  Life, 
the  vegetable  world  of  Motion,  the  animal  world 
of  Sensation,  and  his  own  human  world  of  Intelli- 
gence. He  observes  the  wondrous  manner  in  which 
each  adds  its  quota  to  the  harmony  of  creation,  and 
sees  beneath  their  differences  the  common  source  of 
Divinity.  As  colors  in  a  rainbow,  the  creeds  and 
sects  of  men  become,  combining  in  his  sight  to  form 


one  religion  of  inclusiveness, — Truth.  He  traces 
the  winding  path  by  which  men  climb  upward,  and 
points  them  to  the  one  Door  to  which  all  lead, — 
Wisdom.  And  with  a  faith  and  trust  based  on  the 
revelations  of  his  own  inner  Self,  he  looks  on  un- 
dismayed as  men  strive  and  vie  and  contend  with 
one  another.  Yea,  even  though  all  others  doubt 
the  Purpose  and  Plan,  and  fight  and  maim  and 
kill,  he  cleaves  to  Wisdom  and  to  Truth,  and  says 
with  reverence,  * 'These,  too,  shall  pass  away;  for 
though  the  manifestations  of  God's  power  be  many, 
there  endureth  but  one  Spirit, — Love." 


—97— 


THEMES   FOR   MEDITATION 

"From  harmony,  from  heavenly  harmony, 

This  universal  frame  began: 
From  harmony  to  harmony 

Through  all  the  compass  of  the  notes  it  ran, 
The  diapason  closing  full  in  inan." 

— DrpJen. 

**A  whole  Mind  is  in  tune  with  Nature;  a  har- 
monious mind  is  in  tune  with  Reason;  a  spiritual 
mind  is  in  tune  with  Intuition;  and  such,  in  the  true 
definition,  is  a  harmonial  thinker." 

— Andrew    Jackson   Davis. 

"Pray  for  and  work  for  fullness  of  life  above 
everything;  full  red  blood  in  the  body;  full  honesty 
and  truth  in  the  Mind;  and  the  fullness  of  a  grate- 
full  love  for  God  in  your  heart." 

— Phillips  Broods. 

"There  is  but  one  definition  of  Harmonial  Liv- 
ing, and  that  is  its  exemplification,  through  the  unity 
of  body,  mind  and  spirit." 

— John  IVillis  Ring. 


AIMS  OF  THE  HARMONIAL  INSTITUTE 
FOR  RE-EDUCATION: 

To  Teach  "HARMONIAL  LIVING"  which  will 
enable  the  individual  to  understand  and  demon- 
strate the  practical  usefulness  of  the  FUNDAMENT- 
ALS. ("HARMONIAL  LIVING*'  means  the  progress- 
ive realization  of  the  inherent  divinity  of  the  indi- 
vidual, and  the  manifestation,  by  co-ordination  of 
his  faculties,  of  the  perfect  idea  awaiting  unfold- 
ment. ) 

To  arouse  in  man  a  veneration  for  all  forms  of 
life,  by  a  sense  of  his  unity  with  them;  that  he  may 
neither  abuse  nor  seek  to  destroy  them. 

To  encourage  a  constructive  study  and  solution 
of  social,  economic,  religious  and  educational  prob- 
lems. 

To  further  the  arts  and  sciences  as  being  diversi- 
fied expressions  of  the  Universal  Law  of  Mathe- 
matical Harmony. 

To  concentrate  human  energies  on  the  reality  of 
Spirit  TRUTH,  WISDOM,  LOVE,  Life,  Health,  Justice 
and  Peace,  thereby  healing  and  saving  the  world 
from  the  unreality  of  temporal  conditions,  such  as 
matter,  error,  ignorance,  death,  dis-ease,  tyranny 
and  war. 


ANNOUNCEMENT 

mechanical  process  of  production  of 
"The  Simple  Truth"  has  been  undertaken 
primarily  as  a  part  of  the  work  of  The 
Harmonial  Institute  For  Re-Education,  4328 
Alabama  Street,  San  Diego,  California,  for  use  as 
a  text-book ;  but  the  usefulness  of  the  book,  and  the 
power  and  scope  of  its  message,  like  that  of 
the  Institute  itself,  is  unlimited  to  any  objective 
organization. 

However,  many  readers  of  "The  Simple  Truth" 
will  want  to  know  more  of  The  Harmonial 
Philosophy  which  it  rudimentally  presents,  and  to 
such  The  Harmonial  Institute  For  Re-Education 
will  have  an  especial  interest.  It  combines  the  work 
of  a  church  and  school  in  its  headquarters  at  San 
Diego,  California,  and  under  the  direction  of  its 
founders,  John  Willis  Ring  and  Ernest  C.  Wilson, 
reaches  a  great  number  of  truth  students  in  person, 
through  its  various  religious  and  educational  activ- 
ities. Public  devotional  services,  lecture  courses, 
classes  in  philosophy,  religion,  healing,  and  the 
secular  arts, — attended  by  both  children  and 
adults, — are  provided  those  whose  place  of  resi- 
dence makes  attendance  possible;  and  a  very  much 
larger  number  of  students,  the  world  over,  is 
reached  through  local  study  Centers  in  various 

—100— 


cities,  by  means  of  correspondence  courses  of  study, 
and  through  two  exceptional  publications.  "The 
Harmonial  Thinker,"  a  quarterly  magazine  contain- 
ing sixty-four  pages  of  reading  matter,  is  offered  at 
$1.00  a  year,  and  "The  Harmonial  Bulletin,"  a 
smaller  monthly  periodical,  is  but  25  cents  per 
year.  All  other  Institute  activities  are  presented  on 
the  Free  Will  Offering  Plan.  Subscriptions  to 
periodicals,  orders  for  literature,  and  requests  for 
information  should  be  addressed  to  The  Harmonial 
Institute  For  Re-Education,  4328  Alabama  Street, 
San  Diego,  California. 


-101— 


INDEX 


Absolute  Truth  76 

Ar.use,    Protection    from 81,  95 

Adjustment 13,  17,  42,  65,  70,  95 

Age,   The   New 33,  34 

"All   is  of  God,"   Whiiiier 57 

Animal  Life 59,  60,  87 

Ant-hill 25 

Apparent  Contention .• 12,  91 

Appearances 24,  27,  44,  95 

Artist,   The    Ideal  of   the 44 

Astral  World 34,  93 

"As  within,   so   without" 19 

At-one-ment 26,  50,  55,  56,  89,  97 

Attainment 75,  78 

Auras 34 

Bad,  Good  and 20,  26,  67,  88,  91,  % 

Baha  'ollah 43 

Balance 52,  94 

Barrier,  The  Sea  a 80 

Bible  Quotations: 

"And   they   came   to   Capernaum" 33 

"Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee" 66,  67 

"Choose   ye" 56 

"Consider    the    lilies" 71 

"Every     living     thing" 12 

"Give  thy  servant  an  understanding  heart" 82 

"God    is    love" 85 

"Happy  is  the  man" 83 

"He   took    a    little    child" 33 

"He  who  runs  may  read" „ 33 

"I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life" 55 

"Love  one  another" 85 

"Love     suffereth     long" 90 

"Seek   ye   first    the   kingdom" 56 

That  one   and   the   selfsame   spirit" 86 

The   path   of   the   just" 49 

"The  things  which  are  seen" 57 

—103— 


Body,   Man's 59,  60 

Bogart,  Guy - 36 

Book,   Nature  a. 84 

Books,    Carpenter. 83 

Brooks,  Phillip 43,  49,  98 

Brotherhood,   Universal 37,  43,  96 

Browning,  Robert  29 

Building    a    House 69 

"Bulletin,   The  Harmonial" 92 

Burke  22 

Carole,     Thomas 43,  90 

Carpenter,  Edward 32,  43,  83 

Caucasian  Race 37 

Cause  and  Effect 9,  13,   15,   16,  22,  51,  52,  96 

Cause,   First,   God 9,    50,  96 

Cause,   God  15,  53 

Cause,   One 54 

Cause,  One,   Source  of  all  Things 9,   16,  21 

Central  Heart,  The 35 

Christ,  The 33,   55,  85 

Christian  Religion 73 

Christianity  Has  Not  Failed,  Why 74 

Circle,    The  96 

Coleridge,  S.  T 64 

Colors 37,  38,  41,  57,  97 

Common  Source 44,  50,  62 

Comprehension  Defined 26 

Concealed   Truth 73 

Consciousness 1 1 ,  44,  58 

Consciousness  Defined 21 

Consciousness,  God- 25,  61 

Consciousness,    World- 62 

Contentions,    Apparent 12,  91 

Corinthians   I.    13:4-8 90 

Corinthians  II.  4:18 57 

Creator,  The 22,  31,  41,  45,  88 

Davis,  Andrew  Jac^on 15,  22,  29,  51,  57,  64,  87,  90,  98 

"Dawn  is  near,  The  perfect,"  Tagore 71 

"Dead,  The"     33,  34 

Death  .  20 

Debt,  Man's  12,  59 

-104- 


Deity 10,  12,  18,  47,  65,  68 

Destiny,   Human 50 

Discontent 92 

Discord,    Source    of 12 

Divine    Essence 86 

Divine   Ideas 61 

Divine    Mind 49,    58,  62 

Divine  Plan 45,   68,  88 

Divine  Purpose  88 

Divine  Urge 32,    46,    75,  92 

Divine  Will 80,  89 

Dominion,    Man's 12,  60 

Door,  One,  Wisdom 78,  97 

Do/en,    Elizabeth 22  64 

Dryden    98 

Duality  1 6 

Eddy,  Man;  Bafcer 49 

Effect   (See  Cause  and  Effect) 

Effect,  Material   World   One  of 9 

Effect,  Nature  the 15,  53 

Effects,  Reasoning  from. 79 

Efforts,   Many 65 

Egypt  39 

Electron 1 0,   1 8 

Element,  Only  One 9 

Element,  Third 1 7 

Emerson,  Ralph    Waldo 15,  22,  29,   71,  83 

Enemies,  Two 74 

Energy  65 

Epitome  of  Nature,  Man  is 1 1 ,  24 

Equality   of  Races 39,  40 

Essence,    The    Divine 86 

Eternal  Law,  Ring 82 

Eternal  One,  the,  Emerson 71 

Every    Man's   Temple 72 

Evidences  of   Immortality,  Davis 57 

Evil,  Good  and 67,  95 

Evil,   Nothing  Wholly 10,  32,  94 

Experience 26,  50,  81,  95 

Expression 24,  61,  72,  94 

-105- 


Failure,  Meaning  of 70 

First    Cause,    God 9,   50 

Flesh,   Mortification  of   the 70 

Form  58 

Form,  Spirit  and 51,   52,   61 

Forms,    Many 72 

Four  Kingdoms 30,  58 

Fraternity  40 

Froude  71 

Future    Life 34,    50,    53,  96 

Galilee v 32 

Genesis,    Quoted 

God-consciousness    25,  61 

"God  is  Good,"  Whittier 57 

"God  is  Love" 85 

God    is   Spirit 9 

God,  The  Cause 15,   53 

God,    The   First   Cause 9 

God,   Union   With 10 

God  Within,  The 42,  56,  75,  91,  94 

God's   Garment 1 0 

God's    Perfect    Justice 47 

God's   Purpose 68 

God's  Way 28 

Good 32 

Good  and  Evil 20,  26,  67,  88,  91,  96 

Goodness,  Ring 49 

Gratification,    Material 66 

Great  Positive  Mind 10,    18,  36 

Great  Source,  One 15 

Greatest    Gift,    The 65 

Greatness,    True 33 

Grim    Trinity,    The 37 

Growth    from    Within 23,    24,  94 

Happiness    66,  67 

Harmonial   Institute 5,    100 

Harmonial  Life 14,  19,  27,  28,  68,  91,  94,  98 

Harmonial  Philosophy 5,   18,  51,   55,  87 

Harmonial    Thinker    27,    51,  95 

"Harmonial     Thinker,     The" 101 

Harmonious,   Spirit   and  Matter  are 10,    13,    17 

—106— 


Harmony 14,  27,   58,  93,  97 

Harmony,    Dryden 98 

Harp    of    the    Senses 27 

Having  Our   Way 28 

Heaven,  Emerson 77 

Herb  and  Rose 40 

"He   who   can   open   the   bud,"    Tagore 57 

Holy   Spirit 55 

Hour  Glass,   The 91 

House,  Building  a 69 

Hub   and   Wheel,   The 92 

Human    Improvement,    Froude 71 

Human    Justice 46 

Humanity 37,    78,    96 

Humanity,   Serving 70 

1  AM 55 

Ideal,  One,  Justice. 44,  96 

Ideals,    Human 31 

Ideas 44,    61,  72 

Illusion  of  Separateness 58 

"Imitation  is  suicide,"  Emerson 72 

Immortality 20,  50,  57 

Immutable  Law 82 

Imperfection  44 

Impersonal  Love 86 

Improvement,   Human,   Froude 71 

Incompletion    44 

Independence  42 

Individuality 30,  31,  72 

Infinite,    Truth    is 23 

Inharmony    23 

Inherent  Principle 1 2 

Injustice 23,  44 

Inseparable,   Cause   and  Effect 9 

Interior   World,    Riches   of 85 

Intuition  12 

Intuition,  Emerson 83 

Islands  and   Sea 31 

John  I.  4:12-20 43 

Judgment    96 

Justice,  God's   Perfect 47 

—107- 


Justice,  Human 46 

Justice,   One    Ideal 44,  % 

Justice,  Ring 49 

Justice,   Universal 44,  49 

Kinds  of  Philosophy,  Two 81,  82 

King,  The 74 

Kingdoms 58,  97 

Kingdoms,  Four 30 

Kingdoms  of  Life 64 

Knowing  God 47 

Law    Eternal,    Ring 82 

Law,    Fulfilled    in    Love 86 

Law,    Immutable 82 

Law  is  Kind 81 

Law   of   Love 87 

Law,  One 22 

Law,    Universal,    is    Love 88 

Laws  and  Principle 51 

Lessons    and    Sorrow 81 

"Let  there  be  many  windows,*'   Wilcox 76 

Liberty    and    License 94 

Life  a  Progress,  Emerson 29 

Life,  Animal  87 

Life,  Future 34,  50,  53,  96 

Life,  Kingdoms   of 64,  97 

Life,  Living   the 78 

Life,  Mission  of 21,  70 

Life,  Path  of 26,  38 

Life,  Planes  of 30,  33,  94 

Life,  Purpose  of 25,  26,  31,  32,  33 

Life,  Simplicity  in 84 

Life,  The  Harmonial 14,   19,  27,  28,  68,  91,  94 

Light  38 

Limitations    Unreal _ 20,  93 

"Lips  of  wisdom  are  sealed** 20 

Living,    the 33 

Love 35,  84,  85 

Love,  Beginning  of  knowledge,  Carlyle 90 

Love,    Bogart _ 36 

Love  Fulfils  the  Law 86 

—108— 


Love   in  Animals 87 

Love,  Paul 90 

"Love,   Send   me   the,"    Tagore 90 

Love,  Six  Phases 87 

Love,   Spirit   in   Man 84 

Love  the  Universal  Law 88 

Love   T  ransforms . ... — 88 

Love,    Truth,   Wisdom. 74,  97 

Love,   Universal,  Davis 90 

Lowell,  James  Russell 36 

Lower  Forms  of  Life  and  Man 11,  59,  60,  94 

Maeterlinck,  Maurice 49 

Man  a  Thought  of  God 15,  24 

Man,  and  Lower  Forms  of  Life 1 1 

"Man,    Know    Thyself" 53 

Man  a  Microcosm 11,  59 

Man  of  Nazareth 74 

Man's  Life  a  Progress,  Emerson 29 

Man,  the  Apex  of  a  Triangle 58 

Man  the  Epitome  of  Nature 11,  24,  91 

Man  the  Ultimate 15,   18 

Man's  Body 59,  60 

Man's  Debt 12,  59 

Man's  Dominion 12,  60 

Many   Manifestations 84 

Master  is  the  Servant 32 

Mastery,    Self 32 

Material   Gratification 66 

Material  World 62,  93 

Material    World   One   of    Effects 9 

Matter  and  Spirit  Harmonious 10,    13,    17 

Matter,  God's  Garment 10 

Matter,    is    Spirit    Formed 26 

Maiihe-D)    6:28 71 

Meaning   of    failure 70 

Mercy 46,  47,  74 

Message  of  the  Christ 85 

Mind,    Davis 77,  98 

Mind,    Divine 49,    58,  62 

Mind,  The  Great  Positive 10,  18,  86 

Mind,  Power  of 60,  94 

—109- 


Mind,    Unbalanced 51 

Miracles  96 

Mission  of  Life 21,  70 

Mission   of   the   Nazarene 73 

Mortification  of  the  Flesh 70 

Mysteries 5 1 ,  96 

Nations  Healed 42 

Natural     Scientist 30 

Nature    a    Book 84 

Nature,     "Animal" 60 

Nature    an    Effect 15,   53 

Nature,  Man   the   Epitome 11,   24,  91 

Nazarene,    Mission    of 73 

New  Age 33,  34 

Nothing  Wholly  Evil 10,  32,   94 

Occident 39 

Occult  Scientist 30,  32 

Omnipotence,    Davis 77 

One  Cause 9,    16,  21,  54 

One  Door,  Wisdom 78 

One  Element,    Only 9 

One  Great  Source 15 

One  Ideal,  Justice 44 

One  Law  22 

One  Purspose 29,   68,  69,    78,  93,  97 

One  Purpose,  Tennyson 29 

One  Religion,    Truth 72 

One  Spirit,    Love 84 

One  World,    Service 30,  33 

Oneness 62,    72,    93,  96 

Order,  Ring : 82 

Orient 34,  39 

Origin    Alike 44 

Originality   72 

Outward   Seeking  53 

Paradoxes 23,  25 

Past,  The 50,   53,  96 

Path  of  Life 26,  38,  78 

Paul's    Message 85 

Peace,  Broods 49 

—110— 


Perfection 10,   24,  44 

Peter  I.  2:17 43 

Phases   of   Love,   Six 87 

Philosophies  96 

Philosophy,  Two  Kinds 81,  82 

Physical    Plane 30,  92 

Plan,   The 12,  45,  68,  88,  97 

Planes   of   Life 30,    33,  94 

Politics  73 

Positive  Mind,  The  Great 10,    18,  86 

Power 41,   60,  94 

Power  of   Thought 19,  60 

Powers,    Man's 60,  94 

Pragmatic    Attitude 52,    61,  78 

Prayer,   Coleridge  64 

Prayer,   Brooks 98 

Present,  The 51 

Principle 16,  22,   51,   52,   72,  86,  95 

Principle  Inherent 12,  27 

Problem,    The   Race 37,    38,  39 

Progress,    Man's    Life    a,    Emerson 29 

Progress  an   Unfolding,  Emerson 29 

Progression 23,  31,  33,  63,   78,  % 

Prophecy   91 

Protection  from  Abuse 81 

Proverbs  4:18 49 

Psychic    Phenomena 54,  96 

Punishment,  Maeterlinck 49 

Purpose,    Tagore 71 

Purpose  of  Life 25.  31,  33,  65 

Purpose,  One. 29,  68,  69,  78,  88,  93,  97 

Race,   Caucasian 37 

Race    Problem 37,    38,  39 

Races    37 

Rainbow 37,  V7 

Real  Self 53,  54,  97 

Reality  50 

Keason 12,   79,  91 

Regret  81 

Reincarnation 34,   50 

Religion 73,  97 

—111— 


Religion,  Emerson 77 

Responsibility 1 2,  4 1 

Richness   of   the    Interior   World 85 

Right  and  Wrong 21,  46 

Ring,  John  Willi* _ 15,  36,  49,  57,  82,  98,  115 

Rose    and   Herb 40 

Science  72 

Scientists,  Natural  and  Occult 30 

Sea,    a   Barrier   Transformed 80 

Sea,  Islands  and 31 

Self-Knowledge  53 

Self-Mastery 32,  63,  94 

Self-Respect    41 

Senses,    Harp    of    the 27 

Separateness,    Illusion 31,    58,  79 

Separateness,  Upanishads 64 

Serenity    70 

Servant  67 

Servant,     Master    is 32 

Service 30,  34,  35,  36,  70,  97 

Service  and  Servitude 94 

Shame , 60 

Shelley,  Percy  Bysshe 29 

Simplicity  in  Life 84 

Simplicity  of  Truth 85 

Solomon  66 

Sound    and    Silence 21 

Sorrow   8 1 

Source,  Common 39,  42,  44,  50,  62,  86 

Source  of  All  Things,  One  Cause 9,   16,  21 

Source  of   Discord 12,    14,   23,  24 

Source,    One    Great 15,  83 

Spiral   Spring   55 

Spirit  and  Form 51,  52,  61 

Spirit,   God  is 9 

Spirit  and   Matter  Harmonious 10,    13,   17 

Spirit,  Formed 26 

Spirit,     Holy 55 

Spirit   of    Love 84,  97 

Spirit  of  Religion 73 

—112— 


Spiritualism    57 

Straight    and   Narrow   Way 55 

Success   .. ..... /O 

Sunlight   and   Sun   Inseparable 

Superiority  37 

Superstition,   Wilcox 76 

Tagore,    Rabindranath 57,    71,  90 

Teacher,    Only    One    Authoritative 84 

Teacher,  The 32 

Temple,   Every   Man's 72 

Tennyson  29 

Themes  For  Meditation 

15,  22,  29,  36,  43,  49,  57,  64,  71,  77,  83,  90,  98 

Third  Element 1 7 

"Thou  Shalt  Not" 95 

Thought   of   God,    Man   is   a. 15,  24 

Thought,  Power  of 19,  95 

Time   Transcended 24 

Travellers  39 

Triangle,    Man    the    Apex   of    a 58 

Trinity   1 7 

Trinity,    The    Grim 37 

True   Greatness 33 

True  Worship,  Ring 36 

Truth 72,  74,  97 

Truth,    Ring      .  36 

Truth,   Wilcox  76 

Truth,  Absolute 76 

Truth   Concealed 73 

Truth  Infinite 23 

Truth,  Proclaiming 75 

Truth  Simple 85 

Truth  Within,  Browning 77 

Ultimate,    Man    the 15,   18 

Unbalanced  Mind  51 

Understanding 43,  54,  67,  83,  86 

Unfoldment   _ 65 

Union   with   God 21 

Unity 16,    27,    31,  93 

Unity,  Doten 64 

Universal     Brotherhood 37 

-113— 


Universal  Justice 44,  96 

Universal   Love 88,  97 

Universal  Love,  Davis ~ 90 

Unreality  of  Limitations 20 

Upanishads,     The 64 

Urge,    Divine 32,   46,    75,  92 

Use 80,  95 

Utility  78 

Verity,  The  Eternal 96 

Water   and   Ocean 11,   13 

Way,  God's 28 

Way,    Having    Our 28 

Way,    of   Reality 50 

Way,     The 55 

"Well    Done"  75 

Whitman,  Walt 83 

Whitticr,  John  Creenleaf 57 

Wilcox,   Ella    Wheeler 76 

Will,   Divine 28,   80,  89 

Wisdom 54,  74,  78,  80,  97 

Wisdom,  Ring 49 

Wisdom  and   Intuition,   Emerson 83 

Wisdom  of   the   Soul,    Whitman 83 

Wisdom  from  Nature,  Carpenter 83 

Within,  The  God 42,  56,  75,  91,  94 


—114— 


"Let  each  day  find  us  stronger,  more  gentle; 
firmer  in  what  we  think  right,  and  more  tolerant 
of  the  opinions  of  others." 

—John  Willis  Ring. 


-115- 


CITY  PRINTING  Co. 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


